Dutch pledge Islamist crackdown (after murder of film-maker)

Forums: International News
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Dutch pledge Islamist crackdown

Van Gogh directed TV series and wrote newspaper columns
The Dutch government has vowed to take tough action against Islamic radicalism after the murder of a film maker.
Theo van Gogh, the director of a movie criticising the treatment of women under Islam, was shot and stabbed in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Several men, all believed to be radical Islamists, have been arrested.

Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm promised more funding for intelligence services, and said terror suspects with dual nationality might be deported.

Terror charges

"We are going to ratchet up the fight against this sort of terrorism," he said.

"The increase in radicalisation is worse than we had thought."

The justice minister ordered certain government figures, MPs and Amsterdam's mayor to hire bodyguards.

Dutch prosecutors have said the chief suspect, known as Mohammed B, will face terrorism-related charges as well as a count of murder.

He is also expected to be accused of attempting to kill a policeman and a bystander.

"We will argue before the judge that he is at the centre of a criminal organisation and that the other arrested people are part of this group," said prosecutor Leo de Wit.

A letter threatens Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Van Gogh's scriptwriter
At least four others are expected to face charges, while two men have been released.

Dutch authorities say they found a letter signed by an unknown group on Van Gogh's body containing threats to kill the liberal politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Ms Hirsi Ali is a Somali refugee who wrote the script to Van Gogh's controversial film Submission, which criticised Islam.

Van Gogh, the great-great-nephew of the 19th-Century artist Vincent van Gogh, received death threats after the film was broadcast on national television in August.

The authorities have said they are on alert for revenge attacks on Muslims.

Police are investigating whether several fires that broke out on Thursday night at a mosque in the town of Utrecht were started deliberately.

Van Gogh directed TV series and wrote newspaper columns
The Dutch government has vowed to take tough action against Islamic radicalism after the murder of a film maker.
Theo van Gogh, the director of a movie criticising the treatment of women under Islam, was shot and stabbed in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Several men, all believed to be radical Islamists, have been arrested.

Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm promised more funding for intelligence services, and said terror suspects with dual nationality might be deported.

Terror charges

"We are going to ratchet up the fight against this sort of terrorism," he said.

"The increase in radicalisation is worse than we had thought."

The justice minister ordered certain government figures, MPs and Amsterdam's mayor to hire bodyguards.

Dutch prosecutors have said the chief suspect, known as Mohammed B, will face terrorism-related charges as well as a count of murder.

He is also expected to be accused of attempting to kill a policeman and a bystander.

"We will argue before the judge that he is at the centre of a criminal organisation and that the other arrested people are part of this group," said prosecutor Leo de Wit.

A letter threatens Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Van Gogh's scriptwriter
At least four others are expected to face charges, while two men have been released.

Dutch authorities say they found a letter signed by an unknown group on Van Gogh's body containing threats to kill the liberal politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Ms Hirsi Ali is a Somali refugee who wrote the script to Van Gogh's controversial film Submission, which criticised Islam.

Van Gogh, the great-great-nephew of the 19th-Century artist Vincent van Gogh, received death threats after the film was broadcast on national television in August.

The authorities have said they are on alert for revenge attacks on Muslims.

Police are investigating whether several fires that broke out on Thursday night at a mosque in the town of Utrecht were started deliberately.

BBC full report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3987547.stm

See also thread here: Dutch Filmmaker assassinated; Theo van Gogh

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37976

Life of the Dutch film-maker:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3975211.stm

Islamist suspect held in murder: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3978787.stm

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 1,216 • Replies: 8

No top replies

Further threats:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3984469.stm

0 Replies

Website for Dutch Justice department.

http://www.justitie.nl/english/index.asp

Killing has sparked debate in Holland re "assimilation":

Tuesday, 1 October, 2002, 15:38 GMT 16:38 UK
Dutch 'should be spoken in mosques'

The minister was a colleague of Pim Fortuyn

Islamic groups in the Netherlands have reacted angrily to a suggestion that only Dutch should be spoken in mosques.
The proposal - by a political colleague of the murdered anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn - came at the opening of a controversial new citizenship course for immigrant clerics.

We are born here, we speak Dutch: why do people not trust us?

A spokesman for a Dutch immigrants' group
The BBC's religious affairs reporter, Mark Duff, says the issue raises questions about how different faiths and values can coexist in today's culturally and racially mixed Europe.

The idea that only Dutch should be spoken in the Netherlands' approximately 450 mosques came in an off-the-cuff remark from the country's immigration minister, Hilbrand Nawijn.

Mr Nawijn told journalists that Muslim clerics had a duty to convince their fellow believers that they should be loyal to the values and norms of Dutch society.

He said the new citizenship course was needed to improve the integration of immigrants - and that he would be looking at how best to promote the speaking of Dutch in places of worship.......

Full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2290425.stm

Tale of a Somali woman standing for eleection:

Somali woman heads for Dutch parliament

Pim Fortuyn's murder made tolerance a key issue

By Geraldine Coughlan
BBC correspondent in The Hague

A Somali refugee and former Muslim is a sure bet to become a Netherlands MP for a conservative party in the 22 January general elections.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently came out of a seclusion prompted by death threats made against her after she campaigned against what she called the oppression of women under Islam.

As a woman who was brought up with the tradition of Islam, I think it's not just my right but also my obligation to call these things by the name

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Her role in the election campaign will be a prominent one, highlighting some fundamental differences between western and Islamic culture.

Now back in the limelight, Ms Hirsi Ali has apologised for referring to Islam as a backward religion. But she stands by her criticism of the status of women under Islam.

Bodyguards

Sitting calmly in her office at the VVD party headquarters, with her bodyguards waiting outside, Ms Hirsi Ali reflected on what had caused such a furore.

"The most important verse, which I still refer to, is in the Koran and it is the verse which says women should obey the male members of their families - their fathers and their husbands - and if they do not do that then the husband may beat his wife," she said.

"That's also a side of Islam and I've pointed to it and I've said there are millions of people who carry out just that simple verse.

"Millions of Muslim women all around the world are oppressed in the name [of] Islam.

"And as a woman who was brought up with the tradition of Islam, I think it's not just my right but also my obligation to call these things by name."

Political defection

While in hiding, Ms Hirsi Ali changed her political colours.

She defected from the Labour party to the right-wing, because she felt the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) was more prepared to tackle the problems faced by Muslim women.....

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2624311.stm

This is a very interesting story in relation to how to combat extremism vs normal tolerance and respect for differences.

0 Replies

An attempt for minds t meet:

Thursday, 28 November, 2002, 20:49 GMT
Imams on Dutch culture course

By Clarisse Pereira
BBC, The Netherlands

Immigrant imams play an important role

Muslim clerics in the Netherlands are attending courses on Dutch values which include education about soft drugs, prostitution, gay marriage and euthanasia.

The seminars are part of a government programme for new arrivals, which since September has included a tailor-made course for religious leaders.

The Netherlands is the first country in Europe to demand immigrants take an integration course and 300 hours of Dutch language training.

The Islamic community is growing in the Netherlands, and now accounts for 6% of the population.

Most Muslim immigrants are from Morocco and Turkey who arrived as guest workers in the sixties and seventies.

Knowing the basics of the Dutch language isn't enough to become aware of what they will find in Holland

Yasar Ustuner

An imam plays a central role in an immigrant community.

"They are not just like other individuals," says Dr Faued Hussein, a Moroccan imam, who adds that the clerics have a duty towards their people that makes them a social, and sometimes even a political figure.

The Turkish imams arriving in the Netherlands are usually government employees who have only taken a short language course in Turkey, says Yasar Ustuner.

"Knowing the basics of the Dutch language isn't enough to become aware of what they will find in Holland," he adds.......

Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2525407.stm

0 Replies

More difficulties:

Dutch court clears anti-gay imam

The cleric was allowed to preach the word of the Koran

By Geraldine Coughlan
BBC correspondent in The Hague

A Dutch court has cleared a Muslim cleric of charges of discrimination after he denounced homosexuality as a contagious disease.

The court ruled that the imam could not be convicted because of his constitutional right to religious freedom.

Gay rights campaigners who have had success in the Netherlands - which became the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage last year - were disappointed by the ruling.

'Threat to society'

Khalil el-Moumni, a Moroccan immigrant, caused a furore when he made his remarks on national television last May.

Even though he later apologised for saying that homosexuality was a threat to society, 50 organisations and gay rights groups complained about his comments.

That prompted prosecutors to file charges against him demanding a fine of the equivalent of $1,000.

But a Rotterdam court decided he should not be convicted of discrimination and inciting hatred because he was speaking as a cleric.

Appeal planned

The judge said that while he did consider the imam's comments discriminatory, he was free to base his remarks on the text of the Koran.

Prosecutors intend to appeal against the ruling.

The el-Moumni affair sparked widespread debate in the Netherlands, placing the government's integration policy under scrutiny.

The parliament is reviewing legislation to double prison sentences, and increase fines for hate crime offenders, and those convicted of racism.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1917905.stm

How DO we decide these issues?

0 Replies

Now there are clashes:

Quote:

Dutch Mosques Attacked After Filmmaker Killing

Several Dutch mosques were attacked by arsonists this weekend as tension in the Netherlands grew after the murder of an outspoken filmmaker by a suspected Islamist extremist, the ANP news agency reported on Sunday.

Mosques in the city of Rotterdam and the towns of Breda and Huizen were attacked, although not badly damaged, while pamphlets insulting to Islam were plastered on another mosque in Rotterdam, ANP said.

In Amsterdam, where film director Theo van Gogh was stabbed and shot on Tuesday, a center for immigrants was daubed with red paint. A Dutch-Moroccan man, suspected of being an Islamic extremist, was charged with Van Gogh's murder on Friday.

In the town of Huizen near Amsterdam, ANP said police had detained three people suspected of trying to start a fire at a mosque early on Saturday. Police said they were caught in the act by members of the mosque.

In the southern town of Breda, unknown suspects lit a fire at a mosque in the early hours of Sunday, but the fire had already been extinguished by the time police arrived, ANP said.

Police detained a 24-year-old man on suspicion of setting a fire at a mosque in Rotterdam on Sunday morning. Only the door was damaged. Insulting pamphlets with pictures of pigs heads were plastered on another mosque in Rotterdam.

Early on Friday, several fires broke out at a new mosque belonging to a Moroccan religious association in the central town of Utrecht. Police said they were investigating arson.

Far-right protesters have marched in Amsterdam and Rotterdam to express their anger at Van Gogh's killing, while the government has urged calm amid fears of retaliation in a country where hostility toward foreigners is on the rise.

The Netherlands is home to almost a million Muslims or almost 6 percent of its population of 16 million. The majority of Muslims are from Turkey and Morocco.

A poll by RTL Nieuws showed 47 percent said they felt less tolerant of Muslims since the killing of Van Gogh, while another survey showed support for a populist who wants to stop immigration from Turkey and Morocco rising to 12 percent.

Source

0 Replies

Damn:

Dutch Muslim school hit by bomb

The blast caused extensive damage to the Muslim school
A bomb explosion has hit an Islamic school in the Netherlands, as tensions run high after the murder of controversial film-maker Theo van Gogh.
Monday's blast in the southern city of Eindhoven caused heavy damage, destroying doors and windows.

Police say it could be a revenge attack for the killing of Van Gogh by a suspected Islamic radical last week.

Mosques in several Dutch cities have been the targets of vandalism and failed arson attempts in recent days.

The Eindhoven explosion - which occurred around 0230 GMT on Monday - was caused by a "strong bomb or explosive", a police spokesman told the BBC News website.

Windows in neighbouring buildings were shattered, he added. No-one was hurt.

Police are investigating possible links between the attack and Van Gogh's killing.

Backlash?

The authorities have been on alert for revenge attacks on Muslims.

Over the past three days attempted attacks against Muslim targets have been reported in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Breda and Huizen.

Van Gogh directed TV series and wrote newspaper columns
The film-maker was shot and stabbed in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Several men, all believed to be Islamic radicals, have been arrested.

The Dutch government has vowed to take tough action against Muslim militants.

Police say they found a letter signed by an unknown group on Van Gogh's body containing threats to kill liberal politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Ms Hirsi Ali is a Somali refugee who wrote the script to Van Gogh's controversial film Submission, which criticised the treatment of women under Islam.

On Sunday Dutch police arrested two men who had allegedly called for the beheading of Geert Wilders, a member of parliament, in the name of Islam.

Mr Wilders has said he will set up an anti-immigration party in the wake of Van Gogh's death.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3991547.stm

0 Replies

Quote:

Echoes of Gunfire

A analysis by The Time

0 Replies

A hypothetical question for pondering. What would the world be like if western interests had not raided the middle east for oil and not one muslim immigrant was ever allowed to migrate to a western country. What an absolute paradise!

0 Replies

Dutch pledge Islamist crackdown (after murder of film-maker)

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know