Here we go. Geert Wilders launches new “Draw Mohammed” competition

It’s been a couple of years now since Dutch politician and Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders came up considerably short in his bid to unseat the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. I still follow him on Twitter, however, which is how I noticed last night that he was hatching a new plan.

Muhammad Goes to Parliament.

For the first time ever, a Muhammad cartoon contest will be organized in a parliament building.

I will announce the date soon.

You can already send your cartoon to:

muhammadcartoons@pvv.nl pic.twitter.com/ClQ06BYM32

— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 13, 2018

A new “Draw Mohammed” contest? What could possibly go wrong? He seems to be serious, however. The UK Express picked up the story and sketched out the few available details.

The contest, launched by the Dutch Party for Freedom, will be held in the party’s offices in the Netherlands’ parliament.

The competition has received the go-ahead from the country’s Counter-terrorism Agency NCTV, as announced on Twitter by the party leader Geert Wilders.

On Tuesday he wrote: “Dutch Counter-terrorism Agency NCTV gives green light to Muhammad cartoon contest in secured PVV quarters of Dutch Parliament later this year.

“So that’s what we’re going to do and organize! With cartoonist/ex-Muslim Bosch Fawstin!

Wilders earns full points for consistency, but at this point I find myself wondering what greater purpose this serves today. Haven’t we already had this debate and settled the larger questions? Journalists from multiple countries have proven that freedom of expression is paramount and they can defy Islamic blasphemy laws by creating and publishing images of the Muslim prophet. In return, a subset of radical Islamic terrorists has proven that they were willing to blow up your newspaper offices or try to shoot up your art gallery if you do so.

With the above point having been proven, at this stage of the war on Islamic terror, it just seems like deliberate provocation without much of a point to make. If Geert draws out some potential Muslim killers who try to take out Dutch members of Parliament or any artists who enter the contest, perhaps someone will die. Perhaps they won’t. But while I don’t want to appear completely jaded about a very serious subject, we’ve seen this movie before. It doesn’t end well and nobody “wins.” We add a few more digits to the body count, it’s still blasphemy to depict Mohammed and the west still embraces free speech.

But hey… who am I to judge? If the Dutch are holding an officially sanctioned contest I guess we’re off to the races once again. If you’re a budding artist looking to strike a blow for free speech, enjoy living on the edge, hunger for the thrill of being hunted by terrorists or simply find life too boring (or long), you can send your entries to muhammadcartoons@pvv.nl starting today. And when you’re finished, you can shop on Google for some stylish new body armor. Just be sure to check which local laws apply where you live first.