“Well before van Gogh’s murder, she had become a major hate figure among Dutch Muslims, who accuse her of stirring up Islamophobia on behalf of a cabal of right-wing politicians and columnists. Since the murder, a surprising number of native-born Dutch intellectuals have come around to the Muslim point of view.”
Category Archives: Netherlands
Work order for anti-Islamic arsonists
AMSTERDAM — Den Bosch Court sentenced on Wednesday five teenage boys to community work orders and suspended jail terms for arson attacks at an Islamic school and mosque in Uden last year.
The Bedir primary school was completely destroyed when it was torched on 9 November last year, while the arson attack at the mosque three days earlier failed to set fire to the building. A makeshift fire bomb was used in both attacks and police arrested several VMBO pre-vocational high school students on 20 November.
The two oldest suspects, 16 and 17, were convicted of the attempted arson attack at the mosque. Three suspects – aged 14, 15 and 16 – set fire to the school. The attack at the school was condemned nation-wide.
Both crimes were part of a series of retaliatory attacks against Islamic targets in the days after the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a suspected Islamic militant on 2 November 2004.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the Left and multiculturalism
John Rosenthal boosts right-wing Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Transatlantic Intelligencer, 24 May 2005
Joe Katzman also applauds Ali’s attack on “the Left’s twisted version of multiculturalism”. As distinct from the true version of multiculturalism espoused by Mr Katzman, no doubt.
It can only be a matter of time before Peter Tatchell issues a press release promoting the virtues of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
OSCE concerned at Dutch climate of fear for Muslims
Europe’s main democracy and rights watchdog has expressed concern about increasing Dutch intolerance towards Muslims that was fanned by the murder last year of a filmmaker critical of Islam.
Omur Orhun, ambassador on combating discrimination against Muslims for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), was in the Netherlands to discuss the position of Muslim immigrants.
“Holland was reputed to be a country of tolerance where integration, as compared to other European countries, had been achieved acceptably. But recent events have shown there is a problem,” he told a news conference ending a three-day visit.
“Especially from representatives of some civil society organisations there were repeatedly feelings of fear expressed. Not claims of physical attacks or abuse, but a climate of fear.”
‘The woman who went to war with Islam’: Guardian boosts Ayaan Hirsi Ali
“While it may appear easy to dismiss Hirsi Ali as the migrant who has reacted against her ‘traumatic’ background and become a reactionary as a result, it is only possible to do so without actually listening to her.” Alexander Linklater gives a major boost to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the right-wing Dutch MP and friend of the late racist Theo van Gogh.
Following the media splash on Irshad Manji last week, it’s clear that there’s a booming market for Muslims slagging off Islam – for reasons that will be obvious to anyone familiar with our site.
The Muslim threat to Western Europe
“I would encourage all responsible-minded people to get up to speed on what’s going on in the Netherlands, and in Western Europe generally. The country I cherished a few years ago as the most liberal in the world has an increasingly large – and increasingly alienated – population of extreme reactionaries who despise, and seek to destroy, its liberalism.”
Andrew Sullivan’s chum Bruce Bawer on the Muslim threat to Europe.
Jail for mosque arson plan
Roermond Court has sentenced 20-year-old Peter G. to three years jail, 12 months of which were suspended, for his role in preparing an arson attack at a Venray mosque. The court ruled it was not proven the man actually attempted to set fire to the mosque on 11 November when it was occupied, but said he was involved in preparations. He was arrested with a friend following the murder of Theo van Gogh. There were Molotov cocktails in their car. Three others have previously been sentenced to two years jail.
Official policy behind anti-Muslim cyber racism
The spiraling rate of cyber-racism against Dutch Muslims is the direct result of policies adopted by the government and politicians against the Muslim minority in the country, said a Muslim activist.
“What else would you expect in a country whose rulers ignite hatred and discrimination both directly and indirectly?” asked Abdel-Rahim Kajouane, the director of the multicultural forum center in The Hague. “The policies sponsored by the Dutch government and politicians against Dutch Muslims, especially over the past few years, largely contributed to mounting discrimination,” he told IslamOnline.net.
The recent report by the Dutch monitoring center on racism and xenophobia indicated that incidents of cyber racism against ethnic minorities in the Netherlands went up to 1800 in 2004 from only 1300 in 2003. The report, released on Monday, April 25, said that Dutch Muslim bore the brunt of cyber racism, which spiraled to 409 incidents last year from 231 in 2003.
It maintained that the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, blamed on a Muslim extremist, contributed to fueling racist attacks against the Muslim minority in the country. Van Gogh was widely known for his criticism of Islam and caused an uproar with his short film “Submission” about Islam and women. Dutch Muslims, who expressed disgust and outrage at the hatred-inciting 11-minute clip, swiftly condemned the killing of the filmmaker.
Kajouane, of Moroccan origin, accused several ministers and leading politicians of propagating discrimination through the media. “They are practicing discrimination by giving racist remarks and mobilizing citizens against certain “ethnic” groups,” he added.
This, said the activist, is being done as part of the government’s campaign against “radicalism and extremism,” for which the state allocated 900 million euros. Last January, Dutch authorities adopted new security measures to prevent Muslims from joining courses of diving, aviation, throwing and shooting under claims of “terror-combat”.
Kajouane warned that such government policies would undermine tolerance in the country. He further urged the Dutch politicians to avoid racist remarks against ethnic minorities in the country.
Man gets 3 months jail for mosque arson
AMSTERDAM — A man, 18, has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, nine months of which was suspended, for setting fire to building materials near the Rahmann mosque in Breda. A court in the city also ordered the local man to do 120 hours of community service.
The prosecutor said the defendant and a 17-year-old acquaintance decided to “teach the Muslims a lesson” just days after filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam by a suspected Islamic militant. The judge said the defendant had contributed to the feeling of unrest in the Netherlands in the aftermath of Van Gogh’s killing.
The court ruled the arson attack was not a political crime, but was an act of profanity. The sentence conformed to the prosecutor’s demand.
Attack on Dutch mosque
A group of youths smashed a mosque’s windows in the Netherlands, sparking street fighting with Muslim immigrants at the weekend.
One person was hurt and police arrested one man after the Saturday night disturbance in the city of Venray. Local media reported that the fight had involved about 60 Turkish immigrants and around 20 indigenous Dutch.
A surge of Islamophobic attacks hit the Netherlands in the weeks after the November murder of a Dutch film-maker, who was allegedly killed by a Muslim extremist. There were dozens of attacks on mosques and Islamic schools, including several bombings and cases of arson.
One man suffered unspecified injuries in Saturday’s fight and was hospitalised overnight, police said.
Morning Star, 4 April 2005