Michiel Smit (born 21 August 1976) is a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician who was leader of Nieuw Rechts, a far-right political party.

Political office

Michiel Smit was elected to the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

city council in 2002 as a member of

Leefbaar Rotterdam Livable Rotterdam ( nl, Leefbaar Rotterdam) is a local political party in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was founded by Ronald Sørensen in 2001. Livable Rotterdam won the council elections of March 2002 due to the chari ...

. In February 2003, he came into conflict with Leefbaar-Rotterdam leader Ronald Sørensen and decided to leave the party. After leaving, he founded a new party: Nieuw Rechts.

Views

He released his first book ''Nederland op z'n kop'' in June 2004, just before the European elections. In the book he outlines his views on Dutch society and describes what he sees as the threat of Muslim extremists in the Netherlands. In his latest book, ''Veiligheid, doe het ZELF'', Smit says that handguns should be legalised in the Netherlands and that doing so will lead to less violent crime. Smit has made statements against immigration and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In 2003 Smit started to cooperate with the

Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States and Canada, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It has been classified as "a right w ...

, citing the danger to both from the

Arab European League The Arab European League (Dutch: ''Arabisch-Europese Liga'', AEL) is a Pan-Arabist political organisation active in Belgium and the Netherlands.

. In the same year he demonstrated in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

against the pedophile association

Vereniging MARTIJN Vereniging Martijn (; "Martijn Association"; stylized as MARTIJN) was a Dutch association that advocated the societal acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children. Establishment The organization ...

as a leader of the Actiecomité Stop MARTIJN. In 2004, photos of Smit hanging out with

white power skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations and ...

friends started circulating on the internet. The following year, he lost a libel case that he started against a talk show guest who had called him a

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

in 2002. The judge ruled that Smit had given ample reason for the qualification.

References

External links

*
Official website of Michiel Smit

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

(Dec. 2002 - Oct. 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Michiel 1976 births Living people Livable Rotterdam politicians Municipal councillors of Rotterdam People from Midden-Delfland