Netherlands: Burka ban might popularize it, warns Muslim politician

Via JPost:

It’s easy to see why Fatima Elatik dislikes burkas. The Islamist cloak of female chastity is in stark contrast to everything this young and charismatic Dutch-Muslim politician represents. She nonetheless adamantly opposes the new initiative to ban the garment, which the Dutch cabinet announced Friday.

“I’m no fan of the burka, but currently there are about 100 women who wear it in this country. Banning it might make it more popular,” says Elatik, an Amsterdam-born practicing Muslim of Moroccan descent.

Three years ago Elatik, 39, became district mayor of East Amsterdam, and one of the best-known faces of the Dutch Labor Party.

(source)

Netherlands: Immigration minister wants to get rid of ‘allochtoon’

Via DutchNews:

The word allochtoon, literally meaning non-native, should no longer be applied to people born in the Netherlands, immigration minister Gerd Leers told a meeting on Monday night, according to the Telegraaf.

‘I want people born in the Netherlands to be called Dutch, plain and simple, not non-native,’ Leers told the readers of women’s magazine Libelle.

(source)

Netherlands: Immigration minister wants to get rid of ‘allochtoon’

Via DutchNews:

The word allochtoon, literally meaning non-native, should no longer be applied to people born in the Netherlands, immigration minister Gerd Leers told a meeting on Monday night, according to the Telegraaf.

‘I want people born in the Netherlands to be called Dutch, plain and simple, not non-native,’ Leers told the readers of women’s magazine Libelle.

(source)

Netherlands: Police don’t intend to enforce burqa ban

Via RNW:

Once the burqa ban passed by the Dutch conservative coalition on Friday is approved by parliament, police will be obliged to enforce it, Security and Justice Minister Yvo Opstelten stresses.

“The minister expects police to enforce the ban in accordance with the law”, Mr Opstelten’s spokesperson emphasised. The statement comes in response to criticism voiced by the National Police Union and the central works council of the national police force that is currently being set up.

The chair of the police works council, Frank Giltay, had said there is no need for a burqa ban, which, he added, is unlikely to have any practical benefits. Burqas, he underlined, do not pose a threat to public security. He criticised the ban as a “symbolic policy”.

(source)

Netherlands: Satirist drops burqa song after death threats

Via RNW:

Dutch satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit Do the Burqa onstage following death threats.

The song, a carnival parody to the music of Van McCoy’s Do the Hustle, is a huge success on YouTube, so much so that the video provider has switched off the comments facility. Too many people were posting angry reactions saying that they had been insulted.

The images show a woman wearing a T-shirt which can be instantly converted into a burqa, be it one that does not cover the breasts.

(source)

Hague: Muslim party wants dog ban

via Spitsnieuws (Dutch):

Hasan Küçük, Hague councilor for the Islam Democrats, says dogs should be banned as pets in the city, reports De Telegraaf. The Muslim party says that the animals belong in nature, not inside the house. Küçük says that keeping dogs is animal abuse and should therefore be criminalized.

He responded sharply during a council debate last Thursday, when the Party for Animals suggested more consideration for dogs.

Paul ter Linden (PVV councillor) responded saying that pets are the norm in the Netherlands, and whoever disagrees should move to another country.

Netherlands: Law to ban burkas highly criticised by government advisors

Via DutchNews:

Draft legislation aimed at banning burkas in the Netherlands has been heavily criticised by the government’s most important advisory body and needs significant amendments, news agency ANP reports, citing regional newspapers.

(source)

Netherlands: PM says headscarves are not a symbol of oppression

Via RNW:

In a weekly meeting with the press, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has backed remarks made yesterday by Queen Beatrix that it is “nonsense” to say the Islamic headscarf is a symbol of women’s oppression.

(…)

Today, he added the queen’s comments were “completely right”. He said Mr Wilders’ comments on headscarves being a symbol of oppression were much too general, “There are lots of women who wear headscarves, they are not all oppressed.”

(source)

Netherlands: Majority Dutch think Queen should wear headscarf to mosque

Via De Telegraaf (Dutch):

Queen Beatrix wore a headscarf while visiting a mosque in Oman this week, as a sign of respect for local custom. The Party for Freedom (PVV) criticized her, saying she was supporting the oppression of women under Islam.

According to a Maurice de Hond poll, 79% of the Dutch think she acted properly. 20% think the Queen shouldn’t have worn a headscarf. 53% also think that Beatrix should wear a headscarf when visiting a mosque in the Netherlands. Among PVV voters, 47% think the Queen acted properly, 53% disagree.

58% of the poll respondents don’t think the headscarf is a symbol of the oppression of women. Among PVV voters, 77% do think so.

Netherlands/Abu Dhabi: Queen’s headscarf causes row

Via RNW:

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who is in Abu Dhabi, wore a headscarf when she visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque this morning out of respect for the customs, traditions and conventions of Islam, says Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. The queen is on a two-day state visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“Not to have worn one during a visit to a mosque wasn’t an option. In that case, the invitation to visit to the mosque, one of the most important in the United Arab Emirates, would’ve had to have been refused,” explained Mr Rosenthal.

(source)