Madbouly conducts inspection tour of industrial, technological projects in Beni Suef    Sudan aid talks stall as army, SPLM-N clash over scope    Dangote refinery seeks US crude boost    Taiwan's tech sector surges 19.4% in April    France deploys troops, blocks TikTok in New Caledonia amid riots    Egypt allocates EGP 7.7b to Dakahlia's development    Microsoft eyes relocation for China-based AI staff    Asian stocks soar after milder US inflation data    Beyon Solutions acquires controlling stake in regional software provider Link Development    Abu Dhabi's Lunate Capital launches Japanese ETF    K-Movement Culture Week: Decade of Korean cultural exchange in Egypt celebrated with dance, music, and art    Egypt considers unified Energy Ministry amid renewable energy push    Egypt stands firm, rejects Israeli proposal for Palestinian relocation    Empower Her Art Forum 2024: Bridging creative minds at National Museum of Egyptian Civilization    Niger restricts Benin's cargo transport through togo amidst tensions    Egypt's museums open doors for free to celebrate International Museum Day    Egypt and AstraZeneca discuss cooperation in supporting skills of medical teams, vaccination programs    Madinaty Open Air Mall Welcomes Boom Room: Egypt's First Social Entertainment Hub    Egypt, Greece collaborate on healthcare development, medical tourism    Egyptian consortium nears completion of Tanzania's Julius Nyerere hydropower project    Sweilam highlights Egypt's water needs, cooperation efforts during Baghdad Conference    AstraZeneca injects $50m in Egypt over four years    Egypt, AstraZeneca sign liver cancer MoU    Swiss freeze on Russian assets dwindles to $6.36b in '23    Climate change risks 70% of global workforce – ILO    Prime Minister Madbouly reviews cooperation with South Sudan    Egypt retains top spot in CFA's MENA Research Challenge    Egyptian public, private sectors off on Apr 25 marking Sinai Liberation    Debt swaps could unlock $100b for climate action    Amal Al Ghad Magazine congratulates President Sisi on new office term    Egyptian, Japanese Judo communities celebrate new coach at Tokyo's Embassy in Cairo    Financial literacy becomes extremely important – EGX official    Euro area annual inflation up to 2.9% – Eurostat    BYD، Brazil's Sigma Lithium JV likely    UNESCO celebrates World Arabic Language Day    Motaz Azaiza mural in Manchester tribute to Palestinian journalists    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Islamophobia on trial in Holland
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 20 - 02 - 2010

Amsterdam--Dutch politician Geert Wilders faces trial in his own country on charges of hatred and discrimination against Muslims. Wilders, a member of parliament from the Freedom Party, has made a name for himself attacking Muslims and their religion and in January, the Dutch High Court agreed to hear charges against him. This March, the Freedom Party stands to win 17 percent of seats in parliament, if opinion polls are to be believed.
Wilders has come to epitomize the rising tide of Islamophobia that is sweeping much of Europe. Among the headline-catching events in this trend are attempts in the French parliament to ban the niqab, and a Swiss referendum banning the construction of minarets. The Netherlands, too, has become a focal point for anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Roughly six percent of the Netherlands' population, or about one million people, are Muslim. Most are of Turkish and Moroccan origins. Wilders and his supporters believe these Muslims pose a threat to the "Dutch way of life."
The Netherlands has a long-standing reputation for being a tolerant country with liberal views, where immigrants are given new homes and the unemployed are looked after. Tolerance, until recently at least, was believed to be an essential part of being "Dutch." The courts have played a role in upholding this tradition. In the past, right-wing MPs have been convicted on charges of inciting racial hatred. Wilders' case, however, will test the extent to which the Netherlands has changed its tolerant attitudes.
In its 2008 report on the Netherlands, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) concluded that “in 2008, the public debate in the Netherlands around the topics of discrimination and racism was dominated by the discussion on the position of Muslims in the country.”
The report continues, “[f]requently, Islam is portrayed as a threat to Dutch society by politicians and pundits. This attitude is sometimes extended to include a general rejection of immigration and migrants, often expressed under the cover of freedom of speech.” ENAR identified the Moroccan community in the Netherlands as "particularly vulnerable."
In other international inquiries on discrimination and racism, the Netherlands fared just as badly. The 2008 report by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Eurobarometer of 2009 confirm the findings of ENAR. The Eurobarometer found that a staggering 80 percent of the Dutch population believe discrimination on the basis of ethnicity to be “fairly to very widespread,” and 59 percent of Dutch believe discrimination on the basis of religious belief to be “fairly to very widespread.” Both of these numbers are the highest in Europe.
In recent years, Geert Wilders has become the face of the Dutch right-wing. His views have caused international outcry and condemnation. In 2008 Wilders released a film to support his view that the Quran is a fascist book that incites its believers to violence. He was subsequently banned from entering Britain.
But within the Netherlands, established political parties are still reluctant to condemn Wilders. How did the Dutch lose their aura of tolerance?
Miriyam Aouragh, a Dutch citizen of Moroccan descent, dedicated anti-racism activist and research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, claims that Dutch tolerance was never based on equality to begin with.
“The rough edges between social groups were covered up by the government instead of actually being addressed," says Aouragh. "Protestants, Catholics, socialists, and liberals all lived in their own compartments of society, separately and peacefully, never feeling the need to invest in each other.”
Until the late 1960s, Dutch society was very much structured according to religious and political lines, with the government imposing tolerance from above. Catholics, Protestants, socialists and liberals had their own institutions and public spaces. According to Aouragh, although this division has officially disappeared, remains can still be seen in public life.
Moreover, says Aouragh, “The Netherlands never had a colored and diverse social movement that was capable of putting racism on the public agenda. The social movements of the 1960s and 1970s were dominantly white and middle-class.
Khalil Aitblal, spokesperson for the Union of Moroccan Mosques in Amsterdam and the surrounding area, agrees. He says that the tense atmosphere is due to "a lot of pent-up frustration. This frustration is now being used by people with political agendas.”
In two relatively recent prominent incidents, this frustration manifested itself on the Netherlands' streets, with violent consequences that helped ratchet up the level of racial tension in the small nation.
A definitive change in Dutch politics was caused by the emergence on the political scene and the subsequent murder of Pim Fortuyn. The right wing politician managed to tap into the frustrations of the white Dutch community by, in his words, “breaking through the boundaries of political correctness.”
The flamboyant politician labeled Islam “a backward culture,” and expressed his wish to prohibit any Muslims from entering the country. On 6 May 2002, nine days before the parliamentary elections in which he was expected to achieve a landslide victory, he was shot dead by a Dutch environmental activist.
“Fortuyn's death unleashed a sentiment that, although probably already under the surface, still shocked many. His constant attack on Muslims was undoubtedly an important reason he was killed," says Aouragh. "Linking Muslims to the murder of Fortuyn thus became a common slip of the tongue. Muslims were held partly responsible and the anti-Muslim polemics increased.”
The event paralyzed the left. One of Fortuyn's legacies was a stiffening taboo surrounding "political correctness," thus silencing more nuanced voices by calling them old-fashioned or out of touch with reality. Many in the country felt the political left to be partially responsible for the assassination. The phrase “the bullet came from the left,” referring to the gunshot fired by a leftist, was a much-heard slogan.
Despite the assassination, the government decided the elections would be held as planned. "We witnessed a political earthquake. Ticking his right-wing party on the ballot was like signing Fortuyn's condolence book,” says Aouragh.
These events coincided with the start of the "war on terror," unleashed by George W. Bush after the attacks on 11 September 2001. Suddenly Islam was the new enemy of the free world and the Muslim religion was made out to be backward and anti-democratic.
Then the Dutch experienced what Aouragh calls “our 9/11", the killing of celebrity filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a 26-year-old Dutch citizen of Moroccan descent. Under the guise of freedom of speech, the filmmaker had attacked Muslims ferociously on numerous occasions.
“The initial relief that the killer of Fortuyn was not a Muslim, was avenged and a new level of anti-Muslim violence prevailed,” Aouragh says.
Almost no one in the Netherlands dared oppose the anti-Muslim sentiments coming from politicians and the media. Aitblal describes the role of the media as “crucial in shaping public opinion.”
Once again, the Dutch left seemed stupefied. Aouragh describes the attitude of the political left in the Netherlands as “better safe than sorry.”
“The distinction between left and right collapsed in relation to Islam,” she says. “Because the parties depend on votes during elections held almost every two years, they play a spineless role most of the time. Consequently, the Dutch political left had no backbone when it was most needed.”
This was the climate in which Geert Wilders came to prominence.
Wilders started his political career in the Liberal Party. He founded his own party after clashing with the Liberal leadership over his stance toward Muslims and Turkey's admission to the European Union, which he firmly opposed.
Simultaneous with Wilders' rise has been an increase in violent attacks on Muslims and continuing “prejudiced reporting by the media,” as ENAR calls it.
In November 2009 a mosque in the city of Zoetermeer was attacked with a Molotov cocktail, and when the global financial system was collapsing, the Dutch media focused on what Wilders called the “Gouda Intifada”, a violent incident involving Moroccan youths in the city of Gouda.
According to the latest opinion polls, Wilders' party, the Freedom Party, is expected to receive 17.3 percent of the vote, or 26 seats in parliament. This would make the Freedom Party either the first or second largest party in parliament, destining Wilders to be the next prime minister.
But this does not mean that racists have taken over the Netherlands.
“Even though Wilders' statements aren't constructive or contributing to the social cohesion, a lot of issues which used to be taboo or sensitive are now being talked about. It is up to us to keep focusing on keeping the balance in society,” says Aitblal.
The court case against Wilders is garnering much attention in the Netherlands, but it is too early to predict the effect any verdict will have on the public debate.
A conviction wouldn't turn the tide of Islamophobia, but it would probably be seen as support for those campaigning against Islamophobia in the Netherlands. If Wilders is acquitted, he will be more confident about the legality and the truth of his words. An acquittal also has the potential to boost Wilders' popularity as a candidate.
Wilders in the meantime is on the attack, labelling the trial as “political." In a statement he said, “apparently in this country expressing one's opinion can be considered a crime.”


Clic here to read the story from its source.