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Holland who was born in
Ottawa where the Dutch
Royal Family fled to during WWII
David B. Harris, who could have been the first high profile Canadian to experienced Muslims' attempt at censorship, also writes on Muslims, terrorism and national security. His recent article "What’s scarier than terrorists? Lawyers" appears in the Ottawa Citizen on February 19, 2010.
He was also part of the symposium: The Trial of Geert Wilders, published on the International Free Press Society website. His commentary is titled: "Pursuit of a Parliamentarian." Here is a French version of the speech, which includes a photograph of Dutch Queen Juliana, who fled to Canada with her family when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. The photo shows her holding her infant daughter Princess Margriet who was born on Canadian soil in 1943. In order for Princess Margriet to claim her Dutch royalty, the Ottawa hospital suite where she was born was deemed “extraterritorial.” (Here is photo of the Dutch Royal Couple in Ottawa and their three daughters, including new-born Princess Margriet).
Mr. Harris writes at IFPS:
Connections of law and spirit were further cemented when the First Canadian Army liberated much of occupied Holland. Remembering all of this, the Dutch Royal Family upon liberation sent Ottawa thousands of tulip bulbs, a gift that continues yearly, to this day.
This shared history of struggle for liberty and democracy must leave Canadians wondering whether disturbing legal developments in the Netherlands signal a loss of The Hague’s commitment to the freedoms for which Canadians and Dutch sacrificed. In the land of the tulip, “the first freedom” – freedom of speech – may be in the balance.We have come at another impasse in the West. Just like problems during the two World Wars required our joint efforts, we have a similar calling in our modern pursuit against jihad.