Netherlands: Gays try to exploit minors, get extorted by Moroccans

The minors who extorted money from gays in the area of Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands, apparently did so to dozens of victims. Five victims lodged complaints by the police, but according to the local branch of the gay interest organization COC, many of the victims don’t dare go to the police.

According to Peter Verhaegh, chairman of the COC in Bergen op Zoom, the victims tried to contact minor boys on the internet. Since that’s criminal, many victims are reluctant to lodge complaints, he said Friday.

Verhaegh says that anonymous reports show that the Moroccan perpetrators had victims from all over the Netherlands and Belgium. Dozens were victimized.

The men contacted the three 16-year-olds via chat-sites. Two of them are currently in custody. In the area of Bergen op Zoom they were then confronted with the printouts of the chats with the minors and threatened that those would be handed over to the police.

The victims were then forced to draw out money and in some cases hand over their watches and phones too. In some cases they lost 750 euro.

Source: Trouw (Dutch)

Netherlands: Muslims upset pig picture was removed

About a month ago, a Muslim local councilor in the city of Venray got upset at a sculpture depicting a pig, and demanded that the feelings of Muslims be taken into account in the future.

Is it that preposterous, then, to assume that Muslims would be insulted by a picture of a pig? It’s a no-win situation for non-Muslims. It would be interesting to see how the SMN responds next time a Muslim will complain about pig depictions. Unless I missed it, last time they did not say a word.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The Dutch Moroccan Alliance (SMN) is ‘furious’ about the decision of the Linge Polyclinic in Leerdam to remove a picture of a pig because it would suuposedly insult Muslims.

On Thrusday the clinic said that they hang picutres for them to be pleasing and that they are no interseted in problems. A spokesperson said they get visitors of all kinds, and that therefore they removed the artwork if they get complaints.

The clinic removed the picture after a non-Muslim patient complained and said that it would offend Muslims.

Nonsense, says Habib El Kaddaoui of the SMN. “”Most Muslims are not offended at all by it,” he told AD Friday. “They have been living here for thirty, forty years, and know that the majority do eat pork. Moreover, many Muslims have worked in slaughterhouses where pigs were also slaughtered.”

(Photo, AD)

El Kaddaoui says that just a small group of ultra-orthodox Muslims might have trouble with such a pig. The ethnic Dutch complainer might have meant well, but complaining in the name of Muslims wasn’t useful.

It says the wrong message, says El Kaddaoui. It’s not prudent to think and feel for others, and the clinic went along with it.

Maurits Berger, an Islam researcher from Leiden, also doesn’t understand the exaggerated understanding position of the clinic. “This went too far. Muslims don’t eat pigs because they’re impure animals, but pictures are not impure.”

Despite all this, the clinic does not regret removing the picture. They just wanted to solve the complaint. Artist Sylvia Bosch is surprised that the pig picture won’t be returned. “We’re living in the Netherlands, aren’t we? You don’t expect such things here.”

Source: Elsevier (Dutch)

Netherlands: New site for critical self-reflection on Islam

A group of Islamic ‘contemporary thinkers’ launched a new website today in order to develop ‘critical (self)-reflection’ in the Muslim communities in the Netherlands.

The Nieuwemoskee site [New Mosque] wants to break down rigid ideas about Islam and add depth to the fierce, but mostly oversimplified, Islam debate.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Reflections about the difficulty of Islam to nestle in Western society are often due to simplicity, according to the founders. In Islamic circles you often hear argument such as ‘they understand Islam wrongly’. Or ‘We Muslims aren’t doing good, but Islam is perfect.” While Islam-critics rigorously bring up old filth about the religion, in their view, Islam is the problem.

“With a comment like ‘you don’t understand Islam well’ you kill any discussion,” says Ceylan Pektas-Weber, one of the four editors of Nieuwemoskee. “We’re looking for fresh, new arguments that you won’t read in newspapers, and that you don’t hear in the political debate.”

Pektas-Weber, former chairman of the Islamic women’s organization Al Nisa, says that one example of ‘a new way of thinking’ is discussions with the Pakistani-American Muslim feminist Asma Barlas. She’s the author of ‘Believing Women in Islam’, in which she focuses on a patriarchal exegesis of the Koran. “Barlas says, for example, that the fact that during Revelation a patriarchal society is assumed, doesn’t automatically mean that male domination should remain part of Islam,” says Pektas-Weber, independent consultant and publicist in the field of emancipation and Islam.

The other editors, all Muslims, are Kamel Essabane, Arnold Yasin Mol and Rashied Alibux. Essabane works as a municipal engineer and studies philosophy and religion in modern society. Mol, who converted to Islam when he was 20, is co-founder of the international Islamic think-tank Deen Research Center (DRC) and has solid theological schooling. Alibux is former editor of the Islamic broadcaster NMO. Science, environment, identity, philosophy and criticism of religion are some of the main subjects that will be dealt with on the site.

In the future there will be a blog team, to which non-Muslims will also be invited. Contributions of Islam-critics are welcome. Even from PVV leader Geert Wilders. Pektas-Weber: “There is a condition though that his piece will be built on arguments that comply with our criteria, that in addition to being critical, will also refreshing.”

The name of the site goes back to the earliest period of Islam, when the mosque, besides being a place for prayer, was also a place where Muslims (men and women) met to discuss various ideas, problems and concerns. According to the founders, there were also regular discussions with non-Muslims and ambassadors from various cultures were received. They hope that the Nieuwemoskee will develop into such a platform, in modern clothing.

Source: Volkskrant (Dutch)

Netherlands: PVV soaring in polls

Geert Wilders is currently locked out of the coalition negotiations, but in the polls his party is soaring.

The PVV got a record number of seats in the Maurice de Hond poll. If elections were held today, Geert Wilders’ party would get 35 seats. That is 11 more seats than the PVV got in the June 9 elections. In April last year, the PVV got 33 seats in the same poll.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The extra seats come mostly from the VVD. Just 65% of those who voted for the party on June 9 will vote for the liberals again. In the poll the VVD dropped from 31 seats to 23.

De Hond’s poll is conducted via internet among at least 2,500 people, from a sample of about 40,000 people who signed up fro the panel. The polls are held Friday and Saturday.

In the latest poll, the PvdA (Labor) got 27 seats, GroenLinks (Greens) 12 and D66 11.

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)

Netherlands: Gov’t finances ‘Ground Zero mosque’ organizations

Dutch blog Dagelijkse Standaard reports that the Dutch Foreign Office is financing a project which is sponsored by the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement. The two organizations are involved in the ‘Ground Zero mosque’ project.

The Dutch government allocated the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) project 1,000,000 euro.

Netherlands: Campaign against smuggling Barbary Apes

Every spring hundreds of baby Barbary Apes are sold in Moroccan markets to European Moroccans on vacation.

(AAP, Barbary Ape dumped in the Netherlands)

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Many of the animals are then brought back home by car. Many times people take pity on the animals and think they’ll have a better life in the Netherlands. Often the monkeys destroy property and are then dumped by the AAP (anti-animal smuggling foundation). The foundation told local broadcaster AT5 that in Amsterdam every year a couple Barbary Apes are dumped.

“In combination with losing their habitat, the number of Barbary Apes dropped dramatically in the past 30 years to a frightfully small number of just 3,000 animals,” says a spokesperson.

AAP has started a campaign in southern Spain, at a number of parking places from where ferries leave for Morocco.

Source: AT5 (Dutch)

Netherlands: Wilders forming international anti-Islam alliance

Via AP:

An anti-Islam lawmaker in the Netherlands is forming an international alliance to spread his message across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries, among other goals.

Geert Wilders told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday he will launch the movement late this year, initially in five countries: the U.S., Canada, Britain, France and Germany.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“The message, ’stop Islam, defend freedom,’ is a message that’s not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world,” Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.

Among the group’s aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic Sharia law. Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.

Ayhan Tonca, a prominent spokesman for Dutch Muslims, said he feared Wilders message would fall on fertile ground in much of Europe, where anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling for years.

“So long as things are going badly with the economy, a lot of people always need a scapegoat,” Tonca said. “At the moment, that is the Muslims in Western Europe.”

Tonca called on “well meaning people in Europe to oppose this.”

(more)

Netherlands: Bus driver refuses service to woman in niqab

A bus driver in the Dutch city of Uden prevented a 19 year old woman from getting on his bus because she was wearing a nikab. The Connexxion bus company does not approve of the driver’s behavior and apologized to the woman’s husband.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The woman had a ticket and therefore Connexxion says she should have been able to get on the bus of their daughter-company Hermes. The driver might possibly be punished, reports Omroep Brabant.

(photo, cc)

19 year old Ambaro has been wearing the Muslim veil since October. When she got on a bus to Volkel, she was immediately pushed out by the bus driver because of her ‘extreme clothing’ she told Brabants Dagblad.

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)

Netherlands: ‘Moroccan-municipalities’ not committing to goals

14 of the 22 ‘Moroccan-municipalities’ don’t want to commit to clear goals on reducing the crime rate, dropout-rate and unemployment of Moroccan-Dutch youth.

Outgoing minister Van Middelkoop (Integration) will now settle for the promise that the municipalities will ‘ensure a downwards trend in the over-representation of Moroccan-Dutch youth in school dropout, unemployment and crime [rates] within two and a half years.’

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The state and the 22 municipalities – with many Moroccan-Dutch youth at risk – signed a declaration of intent in June 2009 to work together to deal with the problems. In January, the 22 municipalities were supposed to present their plans for the coming years, and in April they were supposed to make commit to dates.

It turns out that many communities don’t want to be pinned down.”The experiences of previous subsidies and experiments taught us that too often people have expectations which are too ambitious which are not met in practice,” says the report that the ministry sent to parliament. No percentages as a means of pressure.

Parliament member Jeroen Dijsselbloem (PvdA) says it’s ‘unacceptable’ that municipalities don’t want to formulate concrete goals for the extra money. “The problem of harassment and crime by Moroccan-Dutch youth is tough and has a negative effect on society. If you don’t propose goals, for example, that the number of incidents of serious harassment and group crime be halved in two years, you can’t determine later whether the extra efforts made sense,” says Dijsselbloem.

Twenty two municipalities that have big problems with Moroccan-Dutch youth (15-25 years old) were allocated extra money: 7 million annually. It is remarkable that despite the extra money half of those municipalities do not want to introduce a specific policy for the group.

A spokesperson for the ministry says that the municipalities are responsible for the results. The progress and the results are discussed annually with the municipalities. “The way in which goals are set is a local responsibility and differs per municipality.”

Source: Trouw (Dutch)

Hague: Coup? What coup?

The former treasurer of the GSC ESDO football club, Jaap Kanters, told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that a Moroccan ‘coup was committed‘ in the club. The truth is completely different. Haaglandenvoetbal.nl investigated.

Many years ago, ESDO was forced to move out of their own complex and joined the GSC, who were struggling with declining membership numbers. The two clubs fused into GSC ESDO. Many former members of the Paraat club also joined the new club.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

The GSC ESDO club continued having troubles and the Hague municipality threatened to terminate the rental contract for their fields. According to the municipality rules, a club must have a sufficient number of teams to apply for renting accommodations.

GSC ESDO made several attempts to turn the tide. They attempted to establish a women’s division, to start a youth football division. Those attempts didn’t have much success. Moreover, administrators left over time, either because they were getting on in years, or because they thought the younger generation should take over. As in many other clubs, this wasn’t so easy to turn into reality.

Several years ago a group of Moroccan football players joined the club. They ensured an in crease in the membership – which prevented the termination of the rental contract – and also made the club more competitive. More people came ot watch the game, and members from the Moroccan community announced their candidacy for board members. These candidates did well for the club, spoke fluent Dutch (some were born in the Netherlands), and were active in social issues.

The new board was voted in during a general meeting on November 2009, a month after the former board broke up. As the new board says on their website, every member was able to apply for the vacant positions, and “it surprises us that Mr. Kanters sees this as a coup”.

The new board started working for the club, and that resulted in winning the title in the fourth league, and for the first time, the club can join the third league this season. The new board highly values ‘values and norms’, and so last season they introduced for the premier team, that after the game, the players would honor the opposing team. This resulted in a nomination by the Zuid-Holland province.

The new board says that in the period between the installation of the new board and the end of the seasons, the members probably noticed that communications did not go smoothly between Mr. Kanters and the new board. This was partially due to the fact that the treasurer position was transferred from Mr. Kanters. They do not want to go into details, as this should be discussed between Mr. Kanters and the board, and they they will go to the media, it will be in the presence of Mr. Kanters, and they are convinced that this is the main reason why Mr. Kanters wants to leave the organization.

As for the departure of the recreational teams, they think the reason is because they’ve announced that starting next season soft-drugs and tobacco will not be allowed in the cafeteria and the dressing rooms. Alcohol and meat are not even up for discussion.

In De Telegraaf Kanters complained that most of the new board had been members for just a couple of years and had already been honored by the club.

Haaglandenvoetbal.nl reports that they were present when several of the ‘old-time ethnic Dutch members’ were thanked for their efforts and given gifts for their efforts in the recent season.

Haaglandenvoetbal.nl add that the De Telegraaf article already led to parliamentary questions by the PVV., and that it might have been wiser to first understand what exactly was going on.

Source: Haaglandenvoetbal.nl