The Dutch - world leaders in Islamophobia

[rug]

There were more than 100 ‘incidents’ at mosques in the Netherlands between 2005 and 2010 – far more than in other countries. The incidents are detailed in a new Dutch book about Islamophobia and discrimination. Those responsible for the trouble mostly go unpunished and Muslims often file no criminal reports.



photo:flickr/Audringje

Published on : 12 January 2012 - 2:41pm | By Peter Hooghiemstra

In the 1990s, the Netherlands was known for being extremely tolerant of foreign religions, says Frank Bovenkerk, emeritus professor at the University of Amsterdam (UVA).

“... until surveys suddenly showed considerable animosity towards Islam was developing. The researchers thought: ‘This kind of split with the past isn’t possible’. But it in fact was.”

Then came the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States and the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist in 2004. Dr Bovenkerk blames Dutch politicians for fanning the flames of hostility towards Muslims: “After Van Gogh’s murder, the then deputy prime minister, Gerrit Zalm, said that we were “now at war”.

Things went differently in the United States as Dr Bovenkerk points out:

“The first thing president Bush did after 9/11 was to visit a mosque because he knew that he mustn’t jeopardise his relationship with Muslim Americans. They were really careful about that there. But in the Netherlands, we went along much more easily with politicians such as Pim Fortuyn and later Geert Wilders, who exploited the aversion to Islam for political gain.”

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-world-leaders-islamophobia

[Ron Obvious]

1. Tolerance of intolerance...

The Dutch do have a tradition of tolerance dating back at least to the 16th century, and they have at times been havens for religious minorities persecuted in their own countries, such as Huguenots and Jews.

The question is, though, how tolerant should one be of intolerance? The Islamic immigrants into the Netherlands often come from tribal areas and hold beliefs that are, to say the least, homophobic, misogynistic and racist that most Dutch people would consider backwards.

It's all very well to espouse cultural tolerance of frankly barbaric points of view, but I'm not convinced it's the best approach to dealing with a multi-cultural, modern society.

Some vocal Muslims are big on demanding, e.g. separate swimming hours or facilities for women, exemption from having to perform same-sex weddings or shaking hands with the opposite sex, and expect tolerance for their barbaric treatment of women. They are quick to cry racism or Islamophobia when the inevitable backlash occurs, and that usually is the end of the discussion, as nobody wants to be thought of as racist.

There have been many incidents of gay couples being hounded out of neighbourhoods that had become majority-Muslim, and those neighbourhoods are also best avoided by young women who prefer not to be yelled at, or called sluts when they dress in what's considered an immodest fashion.

Tolerance is a two-way street.

[cleanhippie]

2. Many Christians in this country feel exactly the same way...

They want everyone to tolerate their intolerance, and if you don't, you are accused of being a bigot.

[Ron Obvious]

3. Very true

The hatred for women, homosexuals, and non-believers are exactly parallel.

But having seen some opinion polls from the Middle East, what passes for fringe in Christianity in the West or Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel is frighteningly mainstream in middle-eastern Islam, and this does not bode well for the mass immigration of Muslims into secular and relatively tolerant Europe. Most Muslim immigrants into the US are well-educated and cause few problems with integration. The ones immigrating into Europe though are often from the tribal areas of Morocco or Turkey, and since they fetch spouses (often cousins) from back home, those communities tend to remain closed and do not integrate. It's bound to cause problems.

[TigerToMany]

4. We should never be tolerant of intolerance.

The Dutch aversion to Islam seems to be based on the fact that much of Islam is still very conservative and intolerant. Dutch society on the other hand is relatively open and tolerant. One of my friends, who is a gay African-American man, said that he was received much more openly in Amsterdam than in New York City, a fact that he said makes him visit the city often.

The Europeans fought off the tyranny of the Catholic Church for centuries. In the 20th century, the scourge of Nazism infected most of Europe, almost plunging the continent into a dark age. Perhaps with the die-hard religionism, the intolerance, sexism, racism, homophobia and classism that are exhibited in some Muslim communities, the Dutch truly feel threatened. And they have every right to express their intolerance of intolerance.

While I hold no brief for the right-wing anti-immigration parties in Europe or the Netherlands, of Muslims should be addressed as it is a problem.