Posted on 11/07/2004 7:47:36 PM PST by red flanker
MSTERDAM, Nov. 6 - Five days after a Dutch-Moroccan man killed the outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh in broad daylight here, intelligence officials say they are investigating a possible international dimension to what many people see as the country's first Islamic terrorist attack.
While intelligence officials caution that there is no evidence to prove that the suspect in Mr. Van Gogh's killing was part of a larger organization, they have focused on his past association with people who are suspected of plotting bombings and may have links to terrorist networks abroad.
"There are links to the transnational Al Qaeda network," said Vincent van Steen, a Dutch intelligence official. "But it is hard to say how extensive they are."
Mr. Van Gogh's killing has shaken this country of 16 million people and alarmed the government, which is already facing death threats against some of its politicians, including two legislators who have been moved to safe houses. Many people argue that the Netherlands, arguably Europe's most tolerant society, has become a staging ground for Islamic terrorist activity and one node in a loose militant network stretching across Europe and North Africa.
Muhammad Bouyeri, 26, the Dutch-Moroccan who is accused of cutting Mr. Van Gogh's throat after first shooting him repeatedly, had come to the attention of Dutch intelligence officials earlier when they were investigating a younger Dutch-Moroccan man, Samir Azzouz. Both moved among five apartments in the city's western suburbs frequented by Islamic radicals, and Dutch newspapers have reported that the two men were seen in each other's company.
Mr. Azzouz, now 18, became known to the police nearly two years ago when he was stopped in the Ukraine while trying to reach Chechnya, saying he wanted to join an Islamic war against Russia.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I-S-L-A-M.
I have talked to some dutch people online before. Some (most??) are in denial. One dutch person i talked to said that it was theo's fault for ruining cordial relations with the muslim immigrants. like WOW @_@.
Some were outraged. Very upset. Hopefully some of them are beginning to mobilize towards defeating these SOBs.
First Islamic terrorist attack?
Wake up and smell the kaffe you morons! Look at your crime stats and restate your ridiculous assertion.
Rudi Dekkers. Owned a flight training school in FL, wife still in the Netherlands.
OOOOH the scary Dutch have the moonbats quaking in their sandals.
The Dutch won't do racial profiling of anyone. They are sheep to the IslamoFascist slaughter, prisoners in their own country to an invading army of moonbats.
The pathetic end to a nice little nation. Killed off by socialism, abortion, and euthanasia, the Dutch will vanish from the genetic pool of humanity, replaced by swarthy muslim barbarians.
The Netherlands, RIP
Spain has already found their link...but the EU doesn't want to join us in the fight.
AL-HARAMAIN - BOSNIA - MABEL WISSE SMIT - SOROS - ICTY - SREBRENICA HOAX - PIM FORTYJN
A camel already has a noose in a royal tent!
Being half Dutch, I'd love to see them become a true ally.
Aye I hope so to.But sadly. they may treat this as we did so many times, and just hope it all works out in the end until they really get their 9/11. A nuclear plant blown up might do it.I wish Holland luck and insight.
A good start would to reestablish their national identity and throw of an EU dominated by France and Germany.
The Dutch must be AFRAID to solve the puzzle or something, still trying to buy vowels.
Dutch controlled all of Indonesia at one time. Quite the irony that the muzzies are now killing them and raping their women in the "homeland". Get soft and die, lesson brought to you by the Dutch.
A little nation soon to be extinct. Its socialism has rendered them fat, drain-dead and utterly doomed.
Here's another clue
Islam in Holland
Amsterdam, Shawwal 10/January 16 (IINA) - Out of Hollands population of
15.6 million, Muslims make up half a million, which is ten-fold what it
was in 1971. Now the Islamic atmosphere in Holland has become common
feature, with mosques and Islamic schools in existence in various parts
of the country.
The Dutch government does not interfere in the religious affairs of any
community, and seeks to integrate the various minorities in the country
into the Dutch society, so that they can participate in the democratic
practices of the country and do away with racial inclinations.
Holland itself was inhabited by very few Muslims since the last half
century or so, though the majority of those that were encompassed by the
Dutch Empire were Muslims, because, up to 1949, its borders included
Muslim Indonesia. In Surinam also there is a sizeable Muslim community,
of Indian descent.
In the sixties there was a shortage of manpower in Holland and the
country had to look for foreign labor outside its borders, so that its
economy could be activated, and for this reason there was a movement of
people from such Mediterranean countries as Turkey and Morocco. Though
in 1974 Holland put a stop to the importation of foreign labor, it did
not stop the current of immigration from such countries, and many of the
resident workers started to bring in their families. There was also a
wave of immigration from Surinam, before its independence in 1975, and
most of
the immigrants were Muslims.
Muslims now comprise four percent of the Dutch population, with the
ethnic Turks being the majority in the Muslim community, in that they
number about 270,000. This is followed by the Moroccan ethnic community,
numbering 225,000, while the Surinamese community comes third, numbering
50,000 in all.
Additionally, there are Muslims who came to Holland as refugees, from
such countries as Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Afghanistan, the
former Soviet Union, and Bosnia.
In 1971, Muslims in Holland numbered 54,000, in 1975 the figure went up
to 108,000, in 1980 it was 225,000, and in 1997 it reached the 573,000
mark.
Clause No. 1 of the Dutch Constitution stipulates that all the residents
of Holland shall enjoy equal rights, and the constitution also forbids
any form of discrimination on grounds of religion, faith, politics, sex,
or
ethnic origin. This means that the Muslims also enjoy equal rights as
those enjoyed by the Christians.
But coupled with these rights, there are also responsibilities that go
hand in hand with them, such as the payment of taxes, as well as
compulsory education. This means that up to the age of 16, every child
must go to school, including the children of residents.
Those who have taken up Dutch citizenship also enjoy equal rights as
their Dutch-born counterparts, including the rights to vote or stand for
election on the national level, while at the local level even residents
enjoy such rights. It is reported that over 100 Muslims hold elective
offices at the local level.
There is complete religious freedom in Holland, on both the level of the
individual and at the communal level, and religion is separated from the
state. This means that the government does interfere in the affairs of
religious bodies, while at the same time such bodies do not interfere in
affairs of the state.
At the moment there are about 200 mosques scattered in various parts of
Holland, that were built by each of the various ethnic groups, while
Muslim cemeteries also can be found in dozens of towns and cities. In
fact, right up to the eighties, the Dutch Government used to give
subventions for the construction of mosques and churches, but this came
to an end after it was decided that this was contrary to the idea of
separating religion from the state. So now the onus of building mosques
has been left to the Islamic organizations.
Even in the private sector, Muslims enjoy a measure of freedom, such as
flexible hours during the fasting month of Ramadhan, while some
enterprises allocate special prayer areas for their Muslim workers.
Circumcision is practiced in many of the hospitals in Holland, while the
wearing of the Hijab by Muslim women has become a common sight at
schools and at university campuses. But at some of the private schools
the
practice is somewhat discouraged, and there is nothing that the
government could do about it, since they enjoy a large measure of
freedom to run their affairs.
As far as slaughterhouses are concerned, and in keeping with the
practice in other European Union countries, the government of Holland
has set aside special abattoirs for slaughtering animals according to
the Islamic Sharia. Thus there are more than 500 Islamic
slaughterhouses, out of a total number of 4,500.
But the government of Hollands policy is that of social integration,
regardless of religious affiliation, though some of the ethnic
minorities suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as the linguistic
barrier and other stumbling blocks.
The rate of unemployment among the ethnic minorities is around 20
percent, though this segment forms only five percent of the labor force.
The government is therefore working toward improving the lot of this
segment of the society in Holland, and integrating them within the Dutch
society as a whole, not only by providing employment opportunities for
them, but also by teaching them skills and the Dutch language.
The government of Holland is now in the process of initiating the
appointment of Muslim chaplains in prisons and asylums, and for this
purpose will form an Advisory Commission, for purposes of reference.
Thus, in order to take care of the spiritual life of the inmates of
prisons, the government in Holland would shoulder the responsibility of
paying the salaries and other emoluments of such appointees, provided
the appointees can carry out their duties using the Dutch language.
There are denominational schools in Holland, such as those of the
Catholics and the Protestants, but the Muslims also have about 30 such
schools. But the secular curriculum applies to all, while education is
compulsory for all, so that no segment of the society can be left behind
as far as education is concerned.
Public schools are free to introduce religious education, and in this
connection both Islamic and Christian studies are taught in many such
schools. The studentat such schools are free to chose either Arabic or
Turkish as a second language. Itis also expected thatthis year(2000) a
Muslim secondary school will be established in Rotterdam.
Islam and Islamic studies, including Arabic and other Muslims languages,
are also given their due importance at the higher level of education,
and there are several lecturers who lecture on such subjects at the
university level. AT the University of Amsterdam there is a Chair for
Islamic Studies and it is funded by private organizations.
In 1998, the Dutch Institute for Islamic Studies in the Contemporary
World was opened in Leiden, and, as the name implies, it focuses mainly
on
Islamic studies. The government is also funding the training of Imams,
as it does with other religious denominations. At the moment, about 50
Imams are drawn from Turkey and Morocco every year, and the first year
of
their residence is used by the government to induct them in Dutch
society, and this includes the learning of the Dutch language.
Such induction courses are followed by examinations not only in the
language, but also to assess the ability of the fresh waves of Imams.
The pathetic Dutch have some more lessons to learn.
Does integration into Dutch society mean becoming a phlegmatic, 'tolerant', liberal who basically stands for nothing? Why would these people want to integrate with that?
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