OT: Dutch Call for Calm, Mourn Filmmaker
edonline
Posted on Tue, Nov. 09, 2004
Dutch Call for Calm, Mourn Filmmaker
ROBERT WIELAARD
Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch Muslims and Christians called for an end to a
cycle of retaliatory vandalism of mosques and churches on Tuesday, while
slain filmmaker Theo van Gogh was cremated a week after his murder by a
suspected Islamic radical.
Around 150 guests gathered at the De Nieuwe Ooster Crematorium for the
cremation, which was aired live on national television.
Hundreds more watched on a screen outside and mourners left flowers,
cigarettes and beer at a makeshift monument on the street where Van Gogh - a
distant relative of the Dutch impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh - was
repeatedly shot and stabbed.
"Our country is confused and grieving," said Bram Peper, calling Van Gogh's
murder an attempt to silence "the power of the word."
Van Gogh was cremated to the music of the Lou Reed song "A Perfect Day." He
is survived by his parents, former wife, and a 12-year-old son.
Since the Nov. 2 slaying of Van Gogh, whose last film was critical of how
women are treated under Islam, fires have been set at mosques and an
immigrant social center has been vandalized. A pre-dawn explosion Monday in
the southern town of Eindhoven damaged an Islamic elementary school.
Overnight, Molotov cocktails were thrown at Protestant churches in the
central Dutch towns of Utrecht and Amersfoort, causing minor damage,
officials said. No injuries were reported in either incident.
Van Gogh's killing - and the violent response - has shocked many in the
Netherlands who prided themselves on being part of what they considered a
peaceful and open society.
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk met Tuesday with moderate Muslim
organizations.
"Everything must be done to halt this negative development," the two parties
said in a joint statement. Verdonk promised the government will take steps
to "isolate" Islamic extremists and reach out to the mainstream Muslim
community.
The Muslim organizations pledged to inform followers about "the dangers of
radicalism (and) underline the need to defend the values of a democratic
state," it said.
Van Gogh's murder came two months after the release of "Submission," his
last film which Muslims have called insulting to Islam. A five-page note
threatening the lives of several Dutch politicians was driven into his chest
with a knife
Six alleged Islamic radicals are in custody in connection with his death,
including the alleged killer, 26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, who holds Dutch
and Moroccan passports. All face charges of forming a terrorist conspiracy
to murder the filmmaker.
Threats of reprisals against the Dutch government also reportedly were
posted on a Web site by a radical Islamic group in Dubai, if more mosques
are attacked in the Netherlands.
Van Gogh's murder evoked memories of the May 2002 assassination of Pim
Fortuyn, a populist right-wing, anti-immigration politician. His slaying
triggered a hardening of the government's attitude toward newcomers and the
expulsion of many thousands of asylum seekers.