With the collapse of the Dutch centre-right government, the Netherlands may now drop some of its most eye-popping proposals aimed at Muslims and other immigrants and could soften its strong anti-immigration rhetoric.
A ban on Muslim face veils, such as the Arabic-style niqabs that leave the eyes uncovered and Afghan-style burqas that cover the face with a cloth grid, is less likely to go ahead after the government collapsed at the weekend.
A new report from Amnesty International has found that some European Muslims are regularly denied employment and educational opportunities because of widespread cultural and religious stereotypes that lead to discrimination against them.
The report, titled “Choice and Prejudice: Discrimination Against Muslims in Europe“, examines the lives of Muslims in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. It found that individuals who wear specific forms of dress, like a head scarf, or other symbols associated with Islam, do worse with jobs and schooling because of prejudicial attitudes and legal impunity in these European states.
A new book by Geert Wilders aimed at the American market is not due to be officially launched until May 1, but details gleaned from advance and review copies are already doing the rounds.
The book is entitled Marked for Death, Islam’s war against the West and me and according to Wilders’ own website “tells the story of Geert Wilders’ fight for the right to speak what he believes: namely that Islam is not just a religion but primarily a dangerous ideology which is a threat to Western freedoms.”
A Dutch designer has created a hijab aimed at convincing the world football governing body Fifa to overturn its ban on women wearing headscarves on the pitch.
Players were prevented from wearing the hijab at top levels of the game for safety reasons, and because of rules stating that religious symbols were not allowed.
Critics say the ban promotes inequality at the highest level of the world’s most popular game.
A Facebook page called “Let Us Play“, which supports players’ rights to wear a headscarf has already generated more than 60,000 likes.
And speculation is growing that the ban could be lifted this summer if the Dutch-designed hijab is given Fifa’s seal of approval.
The leader of a British anti-Islamist group said on Friday his populist protest movement, which critics say represents a new far right in Britain, would form a political party in May. Stephen Lennon, head of the English Defence League (EDL), said the three-year-old grassroots group wanted to move on from holding street demonstrations to contesting elections.
“The British political anti-Islamist party will be launched in May at our Luton demonstration,” Lennon told Reuters, saying the new body would be called the Freedom Party. At the Luton demonstration, the whole country will hear an anti-Islamist political party that gives everyone an option in a non-racist way – the opposite to the British National Party.”
American lobbyists make large donations to a foundation set up by the anti-immigration PVV, Hero Brinkman, the MP who left the party on Tuesday, told a television talk show on Tuesday evening.
Brinkman said he could not rule out the money being used to pay for Geert Wilders’ defence on racial hatred charges but declined to comment further on what the money had been spent on. Nor would he comment on the size of the donations.
The PVV is thought to generate significant funding from Israeli and far-right supporters in the US.
Because the PVV has no members, it does not receive government subsidies to run the campaigning side of its operations and relies instead on donations.
Brinkman’s allegation about the PVV’s finances confirms what had already been revealed in the Dutch press. In 2010 Volkskrant and NRC reported that the two main US sources for Wilders’ funding were David Horowitz and Daniel Pipes.
Update: See “U.S. groups helped fund Dutch anti-Islam politician Wilders”, Reuters, 10 September 2012
An invitation to an American lawyer who specialises in fighting Western lawsuits by Islamic extremists has been withdrawn at 48 hours’ notice by Leeds University Jewish Society over fears that she is “too controversial”.
New York-based Brooke Goldstein, director of the Lawfare Project, has been touring Britain this week with UK Lawyers for Israel, speaking about the ways Arab dictatorships and Islamist leaders use “lawfare” to sue those who publish articles against radical Islam.
Students were said to be concerned about her association with right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whom she gave legal advice after he was sued for anti-Muslim remarks.
Islamic students at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) are pressuring the faculty to provide a prayer room after the school’s “meditation room” was closed. But the school board is insisting that the University is a secular institution and has no obligation to provide space for religious activities.
According to HvA Rector Jet Bussemaker, the university decided to close the meditation room after it was commandeered by Muslim students as a prayer room.
An HvA spokesperson said: “This is not a mosque. The largest mosque in Amsterdam is just a 10 minute walk from here. Anyone who really feels they have to pray can walk to the mosque. The students also walk round the corner to get a cup of coffee or a sandwich.”
The Dutch Council of State says it should be up to women themselves to decide whether or not to wear garments which cover the face. The highest government advisory body argues that ministers shouldn’t use a general ban to rule out the choice of some women to wear the burqa.
Last Monday, the government sent draft legislation for a ‘burqa ban’ to parliament. The proposal would outlaw the wearing in public of face covering articles such as burqas, full-face helmets and balaclavas.
One of the reasons being put forward by ministers to justify a ban is that the burqa and similar articles of clothing run counter to the equality of the sexes. The council, however, thinks this is something to be judged by individual women themselves.
The far-right anti-Islam Freedom Party PVV, which props up the minority government in parliament, has demanded that the Dutch police corps enforce the burqa ban. The PVV is supported by Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten on the issue.
PVV MP Joram van Klaveren was speaking on Sunday in response to remarks made by the chief of Amsterdam’s police corps, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, on national TV talk show Eva Jinek op Zondag. Mr Aalbersberg said it should be left up to the police officer on duty to decide whether or not to write out a ticket for a Muslim wearing a burqa or niqab. The police chief added issuing a warning should also be an option.