Islam in the Netherlands

[Tonia]

Islam in the Netherlands

Wild thing
Feb 7th 2008 | AMSTERDAM
From The Economist print edition

The Netherlands frets about the likely impact of a new anti-Islam film

THE Netherlands is going through a "considerable crisis", says the
prime minister. The Iranians are musing publicly about cutting
diplomatic ties. The grand mufti of Syria has issued grave warnings of
war and bloodshed. Dutch citizens living in Muslim countries have been
asked to report any worrying incidents.

The one thing missing is the cause of the fuss: an anti-Islamic film
neither made nor shown by a Dutch member of parliament, Geert Wilders.
In November Mr Wilders revealed his plan to air on television an
exposé of the wickedness of the Koran, which he calls an Islamic "Mein
Kampf". The film is said to include shots of him desecrating the
Koran. Dutch state television appears reluctant to show it, so Mr
Wilders now talks of a private broadcaster, or using the internet. But
the mere talk of his film has been enough to ignite a renewed debate
about Islam in Europe and the limits on free speech.

The Dutch have reason to worry. Two years ago the publication of
Muhammad cartoons in a Danish newspaper triggered anti-Danish riots
around the Muslim world. Two years before that a film about Islam,
"Submission", was shown on Dutch television; soon afterwards its
director, Theo van Gogh, was butchered in an Amsterdam street by a
radical Dutch Islamist, who also threatened the screenplay writer,
Ayaan Hirsi Ali (now living in America). Mr Wilders's film could, some
fear, have similarly violent consequences.

Mr Wilders's anti-immigrant party has nine seats in parliament, too
few to affect the government's fairly tolerant policy towards the
country's Muslim minority. But he has jabbed his finger into several
sore spots. He has publicly questioned the loyalty of two cabinet
members with dual nationality (ie, Turkish and Moroccan as well as
Dutch). He called a third minister "barking mad" because of her
liberal integration policies. And he has demanded a ban on immigration
from Muslim countries.

Mr Wilders might seem just a provocateur. But his power lies in the
rhetoric that he uses to contrast such liberal notions as gay rights
and female emancipation with the image of an intolerant and anti-
modern Islam, says Paul Schnabel, head of a Dutch government social-
science institute. Polls show that the Dutch rate freedom of speech as
one of their most important values--and many see Mr Wilders as its
champion. He is a "modern conservative", argues Mr Schnabel, able
convincingly to demand of immigrants that they should show full
loyalty to Dutch values.

As important as Mr Wilders's political talent is the absence of
powerful countervailing voices speaking up for inclusiveness,
pluralism and a more respectful public debate. Many Muslim immigrants
suffer from relative poverty, from high levels of crime and from
social segregation. The government focuses on policies to improve the
education of second-generation Muslims, get more of them to work and
find ways to reduce crime. The justice minister, Ernst Hirsch Ballin,
insists that such measures offer the best hope of improving the sour
relationship between Muslims and native Dutch folk. But the
technospeak often used to describe them hardly matches the fiery one-
liners launched from the right.

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10657249