Filip Dewinter (official spelling: Philip Dewinter, born September 11, 1962, Bruges) is a Flemish politician in Belgium. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party. Together with Hugo Coveliers of the VLOTT party, Dewinter formed a list cartel for the city elections of Antwerp on October 8, 2006. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North, Bruges has many waterways that run through the city. ... Flanders (Dutch: ) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; some prefer to call this the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians; a... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Vlaams Belang (English: Flemish Interest) is a Belgian political party. ... Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolizing French nationalism during the July Revolution. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... Hugo Coveliers (born Schelle, 21 February 1947) is a Belgian politician. ... VLOTT (English:Flemisch Liberal Independent Tolerant Transparant) is a Belgian political party. ... The Belgian municipal elections, 2006 took place on Sunday October 8, 2006. ... The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady) at the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to several triptychs by Baroque painter Rubens. ...

Dewinter was already politically active during his highschool years at the Sint-Franciscus-Xaverius instituut in Bruges. In 1978, as a 16-year old, he founded the Flemish Student Action Group (Vlaamse Studenten Actie Groep), that later was transformed into the Nationalist Young Students League (Nationalistisch Jong Studenten Verbond). In that year he was briefly a member of the Flemish People's Party (Vlaamse Volkspartij). In September 1982, he moved to Antwerp, where he studied political science and sociology at the University of Antwerp, and became a member of the Nationalist Student Society (Nationalistische Studenten Vereniging). In 1983, he became a member of the Flemish Block (Vlaams Blok). He did not finish his university studies however, but completed a journalist degree at the Erasmus College (Erasmus Handelsschool) in 1985. In November 1987, he was elected member of the Belgian parliament, in which he formed a political fraction with Gerolf Annemans (who, earlier that year, had succeeded to founder-Flemish Block president Karel Dillen). Under Dewinter's leadership, the parliamentary group continued to grow, notably in 1991, when the Flemish Block, from a small party, grew to about 12% of the voters. This growth has continued ever since, making the party the biggest in Flanders according to polls. High School also refers to the highest form of classical riding, High School Dressage. ... Sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North, Bruges has many waterways that run through the city. ... The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady) at the Handschoenmarkt, in the old quarter of Antwerp is the largest cathedral in the Low Countries and home to several triptychs by Baroque painter Rubens. ... Political science is the field of the social sciences concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. ... Social interactions and their consequences are the subject of sociology. ... Universiteit Antwerpen (University of Antwerp) is a university based in Antwerp, Belgium. ... The Flemish Block (Dutch: Vlaams Blok) was a Flemish right-wing nationalist political party which rejected the state of Belgium, calling for political independence for the Flemish half of the country. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1988, he also became a City councilman in Antwerp. When the Flemish Parliament and the Belgian Parliament got elected separately in 1995, he chose to be a member of the Flemish Parliament (which deals with a lot of regional matters). His hard statements on especially foreign migration provided for victories in the elections of 1999 and 2003 for the Flemish Parliament.

Opinions

A December 2005 interview by Vlaams Belang frontman Filip Dewinter with the American-Jewish newsweekly The Jewish Week included a question if "Jews should vote for a party that espouses xenophobia". Dewinter responded by saying: "Xenophobia is not the word I would use. If it absolutely must be a ‘phobia,’ let it be ‘Islamophobia.’" [1] (see also islamophobia). This statement has weighted heavily on the French-speaking Belgian Socialist Party for them to become part of an appeal against the Vlaams Belang at the Council of State, an appeal that tries to take away the government subsidy of the Vlaams Belang. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Jewish Week is an independent community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ... Photograph of a rally against Islamophobia in Londons Trafalgar Square on February 11, 2006, in the wake of the Muhammad cartoons controversy. ... The Parti Socialiste or PS of Belgium is a French-speaking social democratic political party. ... Vlaams Belang (English: Flemish Interest) is a Belgian political party. ... Council of State (Dutch: Raad van State, French: Conseil dÉtat), in Belgium, is an organ of the Belgian government. ...

Dewinter has also been interviewed by the Israeli paper Haaretz. About the collaboration of Flemish nationalists during World War II he had to say: interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people (The interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. ... A selection of newspapers A newspaper is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. ... Haaretz (Hebrew: (help· info), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section can be improved by converting lengthy lists to text. ... Flanders (Dutch: ) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; some prefer to call this the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians; a... Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolizing French nationalism during the July Revolution. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

"Many Flemish nationalists collaborated during the war because they thought - and now it is clear that they were wrong - that this would help them achieve independence for Flanders. This is the whole story. The overwhelming majority were not Nazis. They collaborated in order to attain independence and because the Church called upon them to go out and fight the Communists - something that Western Europe continued to do for 50 years. Now, in 2005, it is easy to say: `The collaboration was a mistake.’ The collaboration did not help our country at all; we just became a vassal state of Germany. At the time, it was logical, because of the Church, because of communism. But this has no connection with Nazism." [2].

About the attendance of party members to ceremonies marking the death of Staf De Clercq he responded: A hawk eating its prey Death is the end of life, the full cessation of vital functions in a biological organism. ... Staf De Clercq Staf De Clercq (16 September 1884 – 22 October 1942) was a co-founder and leader of the Flemish nationalist Vlaamsch Nationale Verbond (Flemish National League, or VNV). ...

"He is one of the historic leaders of the party. This is part of the history of the Flemish nationalist movement and it is impossible to deny this. We are the descendants of this movement. Some of the members of the party attend these events because they want to honor the heritage of the Flemish movement. This does not mean that they agree with Nazism. Not at all. I understand that this is hard to understand as a Jew. I respect very much that Jews have a problem with this. But Jews must also understand that this is not as simple as it seems. Not all of the [Nazi] collaborators wanted to kill the Jews in Europe. Most of the collaborators had other motives. I think that if they were living today, most of them would be ashamed of what happened to the Jews. The only thing I can do today is to say that I respect very much the suffering of the Jewish people, to express my sympathy and condolences about what happened and to try to move far away from this. But the Jewish people must understand that not every collaborator was necessarily anti-Semitic." [3].

External links

• Official site
• Vlaams Belang site