![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > Dutch filmaker and journalist Theo Van Gogh murdered by Islamo facists in Amsterdam - Militant Islam Monitor press release Dutch filmaker and journalist Theo Van Gogh murdered by Islamo facists in Amsterdam - Militant Islam Monitor press releaseNovember 2, 2004 Militant Islam Monitor Press Release 11/2/04 Theo van Gogh -1957 to 2004 Dutch Hero and Ally in the 'War on Terror' Dutch filmmaker and journalist Theo van Gogh was slashed in the neck and shot to death in a terrorist attack by a militant Islamist in Amsterdam this morning. He was 47 years old and left behind a son. Van Gogh had received death threats after making a film about spousal abuse in Islam and was supposed to be under police protection. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/269 Theo Van Gogh also wrote a book on Islam called "Allah Weet Het Beter","Allah Knows Best," detailing the Islamisation of Europe. The book is being translated into english. Van Gogh's articles on militant Islam and Muslims warned of the mortal danger of tolerating Islamo facism in the West under a misguided policy of political correctness. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/28 Theo van Gogh was a lone voice in who warned about the looming threat of militant Islam which he called the advent of a "Dark Ages of Mecca" and singlehandedly campaigned against Islamo facists in Europe. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/89 He wrote of his love for the United States in an article entitled "America, America" which he called "The last beacon of hope in a steadily darkening world". http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/28
Theo van Gogh is a hero in the war on terror and an example of how one individual can have an impact in the life and death we are now engaged in with those who are attempting to destroy our free society. His death should serve as a wake up call for us all and act as an incentive to increase our efforts to eradicate militant Islamist terror in our time. Theo Van Gogh's website, " De Gezonde Roker " - "The Healthy Smoker", has been shut down for several days. http://www.theovangogh.nl/ Militant Islam Monitor has put out a webpage with english translations of some of his work. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/309 Please pass this information along. Contact me any time if you require further information. www.militantislamnonitor.org Beila (Barbara) Rabinowitz director Militant Islam Monitor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here for the pictures and accounts of the terrorist murder of Theo Van Gogh in the Dutch press and blogs. http://theovangogh.startkabel.nl/. http://www.nu.nl/news.jsp?n=435082&c=13 For a picture of the murder scroll down to the bottom of the page --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zelf kon hij zich niet voorstellen dat iemand hem ooit echt iets zou aandoen: 'Die kogel zal voor mij niet komen. De mensen denken, dat is de dorpsgek, dus waarom zou je hem neerschieten?' Toch wordt cineast, schrijver en columnist Theo van Gogh op 2 november 2004 in Amsterdam, een paar straten verwijderd van zijn huis, op brute wijze om het leven gebracht, waarschijnlijk vanwege zijn ferme uitspraken over de Islam. MIM: translation "He himself couldn't imagine that anyone would have wanted to do him harm: "The bullet will not come for me. People think- that is the village idiot, why would anyone shoot him?" But filmmaker,writer and columnist Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered on November 2, 2004 in Amsterdam, a few streets away from his house. Probably because of his uncompromising and incisive opinions about Islam." For photos of Theo Van Gogh see: http://www.volkskrant.com/animatie/fotospecial/specials/gogh/fotospecial.html --------------------------------------------- http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/1099461646366.html "He began to stab Van Gogh like a barbarian " Amsterdam 10/3/04 De Volkskrant - translated by Beila Rabinowitz original article below: ----------------------------------------------------------------- ' The assailant fired 20 shots , took his knife in both hands, and used it like he was trying to slash a tire to pieces'. Suddenly 20 shots rang out. Thom Doppelman - the communications director for the city of Watergraafsmeer -East immediately ducked, despite being inside, and pushed his colleague to the ground. "Get down!" he yelled. Dobbelman carefully got up from the floor of the first floor office and saw through the large front window a "heavyset man" stumble to the side of the street . He only later found out that it was Theo Van Gogh. And for what he, with scores of his colleagues saw through the window, Doppel has but one word for "Savagery" A small Arab looking man, with a blue gray cap on his head and dark pants and a beige coat ran after Van Gogh "to slaughter him" which was the only way the witnesses could describe it . The man fired twenty shots, well aimed, said the clerk at the city council. A Turkish bakers assistant who saw the shooting from closeby saw that the shooter even changed cartridges. Then a knife appeared and the man began to stab Van Gogh "like a barbarian". He held the knife with both hands and used it as if he was intent of "slashing a tire to shreds". Witnesses say he stabbed at least ten times "full of hatred ." In the meantime shocked parents who had brought their children to school crept behind parked cars for cover. An elderly women who had taken her dog out for a walk lay down on the ground. Then the man took another knife and a piece of paper out of his shoulder bag and stuck the knife into the upper chest of the filmaker. An eyewitness said that he wrote a short text on the paper. Other witnesses related that he stuck the folded paper into the body of the victim with a kitchen knife . Van Gogh lay on his back in front of the cafe "The Dutchman" his arms spread above his head and his legs over the bicycle path. The baker's helper said that the man also tried to slash Van Gogh's throat. Then he saw that the shooter cleaned the gun with a rag . To the bewilderment of the bystanders , the 26 year old man, who has both Dutch and Moroccan nationality, also kicked Van Gogh several times very hard in the side. He calmly threw his bag aside , " as if what he had done was the most normal thing in the world" according to Dobbelman. In the meantime the woman who saw it from the beginning at quarter over nine and had fled into a plumbers shop had moved further on to the Kastanjeplein. Earlier she had been biking right behind Van Gogh , who was on his "old man's bicycle" with the straw basket , from which an Albert Heijn (supermarket) bag was sticking out . He had left his home in Watergraafsmeer and was riding in the direction of the city center. He was on the way to his office of Column Productions to finish the movie he was making about the murder of Pim Fortuijn- 0605. When the first shots were fired she was still on her blue womans bicycle riding behind Van Gogh. She heard cries of "Don't do it!" "Don't do it!". Van Gogh fell from his bicycle. The man, who was not known in the vicinity, could not be stopped. After the deed the shooter walked to the Oosterpark. Running behind him were two clerks from the city council office. Two of the staff of the Linnaeusschool, who were coming out of the tram, saw a man with a pistol in his hand walk into the park. A short time later plumber Hans Willems arrived at Van Gogh's body. He saw that the filmmaker was dead. Two knives were sticking up out of his chest . Near the body were 3 bullet casings and there were two bullet holes in the street. The bakers helper called out that the killer had thrown away a bag. He pointed to Van Gogh's bicycle. He stayed put and held the spectators back together with a clerk from the city council. The police arrived after 5 minutes. The spectators had called 112 and the line had quickly become over taxed. A short time later the police cordoned off the Oosterpark where they had an exchange of fire with the 26 year old man. He ran from the park exit on the Mauritskade in the direction of the Hotel Arena . Just at the moment that a Spanish tourist was closing their curtains on the second floor came the final firefight. The man shot wildly in all directions. A policeman who was sitting in his car was struck by a bullet which was stopped by his protective vest. A passerby who was later treated in the police station, was wounded in the leg. The Spanish tourist saw how the killer was shot in his leg and overpowered by the police. Large sections of East Amsterdam were blocked off whereby numerous people were prevented from coming to the place where the shooting occured. As a helicopter circled above the Linnaeusstraat some distance from where the murder took place a wreath had been placed with the words :"If it was only yesterday evening" "Someone still could have prevented it". ------------------------------------------------------------------- MIM: One of the unanswered questions regarding the above account is why noone watching attempted to help Theo van Gogh or halt the carnage .The murderer savaged Van Gogh unchallenged and was able to put a new cartridge into his gun and continue firing into Van Gogh who was lying on the ground .After the shooting the terrorist stabbed Van Gogh and walked over to pull a second knife from his bag .The spectators recounted that he wrote a short note which he then plunged with the knife into Van Gogh's chest . They also counted the 10 times the killer stabbed him in frenzied hatred as he lay helpless on the ground. The clinical detachment with which some of the witnesses recounted the killing is chilling and unsettling.This passivity brings to mind parallels with those in Amsterdam who gazed out of their windows as their Jewish neighbors were rounded up by the Nazis during the occupation. Stories abound of how Dutch families departed to the countryside for Sunday picnics from the Central Station in Amsterdam while the trains opposite their were packed with Jews headed for deportation camps and death. From the time Theo was shot on his bicycle and seen by the two city council employees as he staggered to the side of the road, to the end of the orgy of brutality, noone attempted to distract the murderer or frighten him into fleeing.In trying to ascertain how was this was possible the only answer which comes to mind may have it's precedent in recent European history - with their abysmal record of appeasement, surrender,and collaboration. The commemoration which took place the night of Van Gogh's murder at which the crowd of 20,000 was told to make as much noise as possible in support of free speach ,is an obscene travesty, in light of the silence of the public who stood by complacently and watched as Theo Van Gogh was slaughtered before their very eyes.
Wed Nov 3, 2004 07:06 AM ET
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The man suspected of killing a Dutch filmmaker accused of insulting Islam was probably driven by extremist Islamist motives and was already known to the national security service, the government said Wednesday. Filmmaker Theo van Gogh, whose criticism of Islam had stirred controversy since the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities, was shot dead on his bicycle Tuesday morning. Two knives were left in his body, one pinning a note to his chest, said by Dutch media to contain lines from the Koran. In a letter to parliament, Justice Minister Jan Hein Donner and Interior Minister Johan Remkes urged calm amid fears the killing could worsen Dutch race relations, tense since the murder of anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn in May 2002. A 26-year-old with dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality was arrested for the killing of Van Gogh, a distant relative of the painter Vincent van Gogh. The ministers said the arrested man had already come to the attention of the AIVD national security service, but was not among about 150 suspected Islamic extremists which the service is monitoring. "In light of what is known up to now we should seriously consider the fact that the perpetrator acted from a radical Islamic conviction," the ministers said. They said despite the fact the suspect was already known to the security service, there had been no reason to believe he was preparing an attack. The note on Van Gogh's body and a text found with the suspect are being investigated. Dutch newspapers said the suspect had had contact with Samir Azzouz, an 18-year-old who was arrested in June on suspicion of planning attacks on key buildings in the Netherlands. Amsterdam police declined to comment on that information or their investigation. The suspect's lawyer, Jan Peter Plasman, also had no comment.
RACIAL TENSION Some 20,000 people flooded a central square in Amsterdam on Tuesday night to denounce the killing. Muslim organizations also condemned the attack, but expressed fears about retaliation. The Netherlands is home to nearly one million Muslims or 5.5 percent of the population. Recent surveys have shown that the traditionally tolerant Dutch are growing more hostile toward immigration and increasingly fearful of Islamic extremism. Immigration has been top of the political agenda since the rise of Fortuyn, whose party came second in a general election just days after he was shot dead by an animal rights activist. Police arrested some 35 people in the Hague Tuesday night for taunting bystanders with anti-immigrant slogans. "Butchered," cried the banner-headline on the front page of the mass-circulation De Telegraaf, which showed Van Gogh lying on the street with two knives sticking out of his chest. It said the killer sliced his throat "like a French baguette." Van Gogh, who had branded imams women-haters and ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad in his newspaper columns, was hailed as a champion of free speech by some Dutch. But others called him an extremist and Muslims said they found his work insulting. "Our reaction to this deed should not be that we condemn groups of people because of this brutal murder. That is why the cabinet makes an urgent appeal for society to react in a dignified way," ministers Donner and Remkes said. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=6700215 ------------------------------------------- MIM: According to this article in the NRC Handelsblad the Dutch equivalent of the Wall Street Journal Theo van Gogh shouted "Don't do it - Don't do it " to the terrorist after he was shot. The killer then stuck 2 knives into Van Gogh's chest. Attached to one knife was a note in Arabic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIM: Theo van Gogh was murdered this morning in East Amsterdam. In the neighborhood of the murder the residents are worried about the relations between the foreigners and the native Dutch. MIM: Note : Before the war East Amsterdam was predominently Jewish. After the East Amsterdam has become one of the largest Muslim neighborhoods. -------------------------------------------------------- Theo van Gogh is vanmorgen in Amsterdam-Oost vermoord. In de buurt van de moord maakten bewoners zich vanmorgen zorgen over de verhouding tussen allochtonen en autochtonen. http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/artikel/1099379146898.html MIM: Translation "Don't do it - Don't do it" he cried out About quarter past nine Theo van Gogh was biking on the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam and was approached by a man on a bicycle who immediately shot him. According to eyewitnesses Van Gogh cried out: Don't do it , don't do it . He reached the other side of the street walking. Then he was shot by the man several times. He died on the spot. According to co producer Gijs van Westelaken Van Gogh was on his way to his office,Column Productions on the Breestraat. He was working there on his film, 06/05 about the murder of Pim Fortuijn."There is a striking parallel", according to Westerlaken. After the murder the suspect fled into the Oosterpark , which has been cordoned off by police.At the exit to the park on the Mauritskade a firefight took place between the police and the suspect. A police officer was wounded in the exchange.The bullet bored a hole into his protective vest. The shooter was hit in the leg and overpowered by the police. According to residents, the perpetrator, after shooting Van Gogh, stuck one and according to some, two knives in his chest. Attached to one of the knives was a piece of paper with text. A sharp object was seen sticking out from under the white sheet where the body lay at about 10 oclock which appeared to be a knife.It was very large and was high in his chest. Most of the residents got their information about the murder from a young woman who saw the murder. Fearful that the killer would come after her, she fled into a plumbing shop, about 200 meters from the scene of the murder. According to her account there was one dark skinned man who acted alone. Other residents confirmed this. Paul Vreuls was bringing his daughter to school at around 9:15 when he heard shots."I wanted to go there but luckily my daughter was smarter " She said "No, No, papa I dont want to die." We proceeded to bike as far away as possible". On the other side of the street opn the bridge by s'Gravensande and the Mauritskade stood Hajar (15) and Fadona ,(14)."The bullets were flying around our ears" "I didnt know it was Van Gogh".said Fadona. The other students also had difficulty realising who Van Gogh was, but they had heard about the film he made with Parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali where a woman veiled woman appeared half naked. Abdel Haddadi, concierge of the Amstel Lyceum saw Van Gogh lying dead. " He had two knives in his body, he said in broken Dutch, pointing to his heart .According to him there were notes on the knives. "Soon we'll all be thrown out of the country".said Aywerk, a student from Moroccan background. He has heard that the suspect is a Muslim .Aywerk says he is afraid that the murder will sharpen the divisions between foreigners and native born Dutch. "Since September 11th I dont find it nice here anymore".After my studies Im going to say 'thank you Holland for the schooling' and take off !" But he says he liked Van Gogh, "he was insulting but he was funny". "It's not for us to kill someone", "if he did something wrong he has to answer to Allah on the Day of Judgement." Maryam, a high school student agrees with him: "He had his opinion and could voice it even if he insulted Islam". She said she is afraid that Morcoccans will be collectively blamed for the murder. She also finds that the atmosphere in Holland is becoming unpleasant. "Is it going to get worse?" Look at the faces of the Dutch, I'd say. A man just called out "dirty rotten Moroccan!" as he walked by. There are no heated discussions in the Kabir mosque on the Weesperzijde, a few minutes distance from the scene of Theo Van Gogh's murder. The mosque is preparing for midday prayers. The believers are starting to trickle into the mosque. "Murder?" many have not yet heard the news about the death. "Most of the people here are not politically involved".says another visitor. "They dont even know who Van Gogh is". He does . He just heard that Van Gogh is dead. "Oh boy! what a situation !" The Muslim who didnt want to be named, knew that Van Gogh sometimes ruthlessly attacked his religion. "That is still not a reason to kill". The man complained about lack of knowledge of the religion by young Muslims and it's critics."Everyone has something to say, Islam is a peaceful religion". Islam condemns such a cowardly murder". ---------------------------------------------------------------
A map showing where Theo Van Gogh was murdered. The entire area is residential . The brazen murder in broad daylight is further proof that traditional Dutch tolerance in the guise of 'multiculturalism' and misguided political correctness emboldened militant Islamists. Amsterdam Mayor Jacob Cohen's policies of appeasement and dialouge, which Theo Van Gogh sharply criticised , have fostered a climate where the Islamists have the upper hand and the Dutch are being intimidated out of their neighborhoods by violent Morrocan Muslim thugs, and have to be worried about being shot when taking their children to school. In an article written 10 days before his murder Theo Van Gogh had this to say about Mayor Cohen: When the fellow believers of Abou Jah Jah (the 'leader' of the Arab European League in Belgium) slaughtered 3,000 Americans in the MIM: He ended with these prophetic words: ..."I suspect that our mayor is an incorrigible cynic and a mercenary opportunist to boot, and ask myself for how long native Dutch will be welcome in ------------------------------------------------- MIM :Note that not one Muslim quoted in the article above repudiated the murder except to note that it was contrary to "the peaceful religion" of Islam, and express concern that it might spark a backlash. While not commenting on the murder, perpetrated by a co religionist in front of their eyes, the Muslims did see fit to mention that a Dutchman had yelled an insult at them in passing. --------------------------------------------------------------
Theo van Gogh is vanmorgen in Amsterdam-Oost vermoord. In de buurt van de moord maakten bewoners zich vanmorgen zorgen over de verhouding tussen allochtonen en autochtonen.
AMSTERDAM, 2 NOV. Rond kwart voor negen fietst Theo van Gogh op de Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam als hij wordt ingehaald door een man op een fiets. Die schiet hem meteen neer. Van Gogh roept volgens een ooggetuige nog: ,,Doe het niet, doe het niet". Hij bereikt lopend de overkant van de weg. Daar wordt hij door dezelfde man beschoten, meerdere malen. Hij overlijdt ter plaatse. Van Gogh was volgens co-producent Gijs van de Westelaken op weg naar zijn kantoor, Column Producties aan de Van Breestraat. Daar werkte hij aan zijn film 0605, over de moord op Pim Fortuyn. ,,Dat lijkt een treffende parallel te worden", zegt Van de Westelaken. De verdachte vlucht na zijn daad het Oosterpark in, dat door de politie inmiddels is afgezet. Bij de uitgang aan de Mauritskade ontstaat een vuurgevecht tussen de politie en de verdachte. Daarbij raakt een agent gewond. De kogel boort zich in zijn kogelvrije vest. De schutter wordt in zijn been geraakt en overmeesterd door de politie. Volgens buurtbewoners heeft de dader, na Van Gogh te hebben neergeschoten, een mes, volgens sommigen twee messen, in de borstkas van het slachtoffer geplant, met daaraan een papier met een tekst. Onder het witte laken dat de politie over het lijk heeft gelegd is rond een uur of tien in ieder geval een puntig voorwerp zichtbaar dat een mes zou kunnen zijn. Het lijkt vrij groot en bevindt zich ter hoogte van de borstkas. De meeste buurtbewoners die in de Tweede Oosterparkstraat staan ontlenen hun kennis aan de verklaringen van een jonge vrouw die de moord heeft gezien en daarop - in de waan dat de dader haar achterna kwam - een loodgieterszaak op het Kastanjeplein is binnengerend, op ongeveer 200 meter van de plaats van de moord. Volgens haar verklaringen zou het gaan om een man met een donker uiterlijk, die als eenling optrad. Andere buurtbewoners bevestigen dat. Paul Vreuls bracht net zijn dochtertje naar school toen hij rond kwart voor negen in de buurt van de Mauritskade schoten hoorde. ,,Ik wilde er naartoe, maar gelukkig was mijn dochtertje de verstandigste. ‘Nee, nee papa, ik wil niet dood', zei ze. Toen ben ik zo ver mogelijk weggefietst." Aan de andere kant van de straat, op de brug bij de 's Gravesandestraat en de Mauritskade, staan Hajar (15), Fadona (14) en enkele andere Marokkaanse meisjes. Ze zitten op het naastgelegen Amstel Lyceum. Even verderop ligt op het asfalt een politiemotor van een motoragent die de achtervolging inzette op de verdachte. Ze hebben net een docente gesproken. Zij had de twee daders gezien. ,,De kogels vlogen haar om de oren", zegt Fadona. ,,Ik wist niet eens wie Van Gogh was", zegt Fadona. De andere meisjes kunnen zich hem ook maar moeizaam voor de geest halen, maar ze hebben wel van de film gehoord die Van Gogh deze zomer met het Kamerlid Ayaan Hirsi Ali maakte, en waarin een gesluierde vrouw halfnaakt te zien is. Abdel Haddedi, conciërge van het Amstel Lyceum, heeft Van Gogh zien liggen. ,,Hij had twee messen in zijn lichaam", zegt hij in gebroken Nederlands, gebarend naar de hartstreek en de buik. Volgens hem zaten er briefjes aan de messen bevestigd. ,,Binnenkort worden we allemaal het land uitgegooid", zegt Aywerk, een vwo-scholier van Turkse afkomst. Hij heeft inmiddels gehoord dat de verdachte een moslim is. Aywerk zegt angst te hebben dat de moord de verhoudingen tussen allochtonen en Nederlanders zal verscherpen. ,,Het wordt steeds erger hier. Vooral sinds 11 september vind ik het hier niet meer leuk. Na mijn studie zeg ik: ‘Dag Nederland, bedankt voor de opleiding, ik ben weg!"' Toch mocht hij Van Gogh wel, zegt Aywerk. ,,Hij was wel beledigend, maar ook grappig. Het is niet aan ons om iemand te doden. Als hij iets heeft misdaan moet hij zich voor Allah verantwoorden op de Dag des Oordeels." Maryam (17), havo-scholier van Marokkaanse afkomst, valt hem bij. ,,Hij had zijn mening, die mocht hij uitspreken, ook als hij de islam beledigde." Zij zegt bang te zijn dat Marokkanen collectief de schuld van de moord krijgen. Ook zij vindt de sfeer in Nederland onaangenaam worden. ,,Of het erger wordt? Kijk naar de gezichten van de Nederlanders, zou ik zeggen. Net riep een man ‘vuile kut-Marokkanen' toen hij langs liep." Geen verhitte discussies in de Marokkaanse Al Kabir-moskee aan de Weesperzijde, zo'n een paar minuten op loopafstand van de plek Theo van Gogh is vermoord. De moskee maakt zich op voor het middaggebed. De gelovigen druppelen een voor een de moskee binnen. ,,Moord?" Het doodsbericht heeft velen nog niet bereikt. ,,De meeste mensen hier zijn niet de politiek bezig," zegt een andere bezoeker. ,,Zij weten niet eens wie Van Gogh is." Hij wel. Zojuist heeft hij vernomen dat Van Gogh is overleden. ,,Tjonge, wat een toestand!." De moslim, die zijn naam niet wenst te noemen, zegt te weten dat Van Gogh zijn religie zo nu en dan meedogenloos aan- en afviel. ,,Dat is toch nog geen reden voor een moord." De man klaagt over gebrek aan kennis over zijn religie, bij jonge moslims en bij critici. ,,Iedereen roept maar wat. De islam is een vredige religie. De islam keurt zo'n laffe moord af." ----------------------- MIM: Could it be that the Dutch wake up to the dangers of Islamofacism and the fact that "they have let it rot too long" . Or will they shrink from taking the necessary steps to crack down on Islamo facism for fear that it will change their society?. It is almost unbelievable that anyone things that " keeping things together", is a viable option. After the murders of Wim Fortuin and Theo Van Gogh and with Dutch schoolchildren and their parents having to dodge bullets in the street it is extremely troubling to see 20,000 people assemble in Amsterdam in support of free speach, while not once mentioning militant Islam. MIM will do it's utmost to spread Theo Van Gogh's message and ensure that it was did not die along with the messenger. Translation of an article : "We have let it rot too long" At most about 5 percent of the Muslims in Holland are radical. But that makes a total of 50,000 together. And it only takes one to take a pistol and a knife. "Why now? Why here" asks a woman by the cordoning off of the Linnaeousstraat on the corner of the Oosterpark .Van Gogh was part of the neighbor, came riding past on his bike". Her depiction sums up the devastation at the crossing point in East Amsterdam. There is sadness and the nagging question of what we did to deserve this. The men in white behind the red and white tape seem to not to be real. A few hours later Mayor Cohen speaks to freedom loving Amsterdammers and prime minister Balkenende speaks about the necessity of sorting out differences with words. Both statements are more moving then reassuring.In Amsterdam the local counselors have to go into the streets and put out feelers. And in The Hague the word is to keep one's cool.There is fear of riots. And the underlying, most uncomfortable and urgent question is : "Do we have a response to this?" "These events show what kind of climate we have allowed to develop". Which people we have let in and by allowing them to do whatever they want" says sociologist Herman Vuisje. "How we have let it rot for too long". "The numbers are there" Not more then 5% of Muslims are radicals. That makes around 50,000. But it just takes one to grab a pistol and a knife to plunge Holland into a deep crisis, as we saw yesterday. Can one speak of a turning point? A change in the ethnic relationships, a dent in the self satisfied picture as happened after the drama in Srebenica ? No says Herbert Both the author of a book called "The Drama of Srebenica". Holland has long ago discarded their feelings of moral superiority and innocence. We have become less special. The unpleasant reality is we are not a step further and the question we have to ask ourselves is "what can we continue to tolerate? " For a long time we thought that our tolerance in Holland would protect us from Brixton (UK) and Paris suburb types of riots. That sentiment is gone. The pesimism which reigned after the publication of the study of the Social and Cutural Planning office spoke volumes. The doubt about our integration model is enormous. What direction should integration be taking? Rene Cuperus of the Wiardi Beckman Foundation believes that Holland has become "a frontline state" in the clash of cultures. "In France and Belgium you dont have a cabaret type of character who is shouting about "goatfuckers".They have to know that they have come into the freest land in the world . The land of abortion and homos.That conflict cannot be solved with political correctness". I"nto the clash of cultures is also the difference in personal lifestyles. The assertive world view of the average Dutch who doesn't let themselves get stepped on which was incarnated by Theo van Gogh. Imagine the approach to life of one segment of the population with another who has yet to begin with the process of individualism and you are asking for problems. Not that Holland hasn't yet realised that. The about face came with Bolkenstein and then of course with Fortuyn" says Herman Vuisje,. I dont think the murder of Van Gogh is the turning point, it is the burning embers of a historic mistake." "The atmosphere in Amsterdam yesterday was not one of revenge.On Dam Square tens of thousands of people attested to their belief in free speach by non violently making as much noise as possible. Shared sorrow can also result in the opposite of agression". says sociologist Hans Boutellier. "Sorrow can unite tremendously ". Yesterday evening I saw alot of foreigners on Dam Square and had to think about France where the kidnapping of two journalists has led to brotherhood. That Van Gogh with his ubiquitous cigarette and his allergy for every form of authority didn't act to catalyse feelings of people against the elite also plays a role." One can expect that the call for stronger state controls is going to gather momentum, says Piet de Rooij a professor of Dutch history. He ended his nieuwly published book "Republic of Rivals " with the sentence "We are working on new divisions" He meant the divisions between the foreign and native born Dutch . My prediction was right. This is a symbol of a process which threatens to go totally wrong. "The police and government officials realise this too. If the government can no longer guarentee the safety of its citizens.we are lost.More pressure on Muslim organisations is being planned. Minister Verdonk began yesterday with that. But this can not be solved with a hefty debate or firm speech. It requires an enormous investment" The question is as to whether there is another option then "keeping things together". Dutch history has no precedents to think that. "We don't have any other option,and that is just as well" thinks Norbert Both. The big dillema in a confrontation with intolerance is that tolerance doesnt provide an answer. Then they will just grab for the entire hand.But if you respond to intolerance with intolerance you lose yourself. And of course we don't want to do that. The question is as to whether we will resist the emotions and keep being ourselves." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Translators note "Srebenica in Yugoslavia was the scene of a massacre of hundreds of Bosnian Muslims by Serbs which the Dutch "Blue Helmet" UN peace keeping contingent was accused of doing nothing to prevent. The fallout resulted in a government crisis. -------------------------------------------- http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/1099379728254.html
------------------------------------- http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/1099497975465.html MIM: Eight Arrests in the investigation into the murder of Van Gogh. "It is clear that the suspects were acted from a radical Islamic background" .The police are basing this on the two letter which they found.One was on the body of the victim. The suspect was carrying the other one. The Justice department wont say anything about the content of the letters". (There is breaking news that the letters called for Muslims to wage Jihad). The article ends stating that " Van Gogh will be cremated Tuesday in the Amsterdam Crematorium" Everyone can take part in the procession." On the evening of the cremation a closed memorial service will be held".
|