Free Republic

Area two kilometres from city centre has become ‘orthodox Muslim territory’ largely ignored by authorities There have been calls for an urgent debate in the Dutch parliament about the integration of Muslim immigrants amid claims that one area of The Hague, known locally as “the Sharia triangle”, is being run by a form of unofficial Sharia police. The claims relate to the district of Schilderswijk, about two kilometres from the city centre, where an almost entirely Muslim population of some 5,000 people surrounds the El Islam mosque, fuelling criticism that the government has failed to ensure a proper ethnic mix...

A Dutch conservative lawmaker said Wednesday he is making a film to highlight what he describes as "fascist" passages in the Quran, his latest high profile criticism of Islam. The interior and justice ministers said they were concerned, but believed they had no authority to prevent the lawmaker, Geert Wilders, from screening his film. Wilders plans to depict parts of the Quran he says are used as inspiration "by bad people to do bad things." Less than 10 minutes long, the film is expected to air in late January. It will show "the intolerant and fascist character of the Quran,"...

THE HAGUE, July 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Dutch parliament is currently debating a draft law presented by the government on radicalism combat, including a TV show to monitor sermons delivered by imams. The controversial measure drew rebuke from a prominent Dutch Muslim scholar who told IslamOnline.net it would deepen Muslim isolation in the country. According to the 32-item measure, one mosque sermon would be televised each week without the prior knowledge of the imam. It would then be debated by the program's guests. Minister of Immigrants and Integration Rita Verdonk told parliament the aim of this program is to...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is supposed to be on the run, but, as one last spring snowstorm turned Amsterdam's lacy bridges and gabled canal houses into a confectioner's delight, she seemed to be everywhere. On television the slim, pantsuit-clad, Somali-born legislator demanded that the Dutch intelligence service investigate the honor killings of Muslim girls. In the pages of newspapers she harangued the health authorities to examine schoolgirls for evidence of genital mutilation. At prize ceremonies she warned European governments that women in their Muslim communities remain under threat. Seven months ago, Hirsi Ali's implacable campaign against what she views as Islam's...

AMSTERDAM — A mosque has been gutted by an arson attack in the west of Rotterdam in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police have said the inside of the Shaan-e-Islam prayer room in a warehouse on the Aleidisstraat has been destroyed. The mosque is linked to the Dutch Muslim association NMA and is mainly frequented by members of the Surinamese community. The cause of the fire has yet to be established. It was discovered at about 4am after local residents heard a loud bang. A police spokesperson said the blaze caught hold quickly in the building and the ground...

'I shot Fortuyn for Dutch Muslims,' says accused Andrew Osborn Friday March 28, 2003The GuardianThe long-awaited trial of Pim Fortuyn's alleged killer got under way in the Netherlands yesterday with a stark admission from the main defendant that he had assassinated the anti-immigration politician as a favour to the country's Muslim minority and other vulnerable sections of society. Fortuyn, a flamboyant, openly gay politician who called Islam "backward" and favoured zero immigration, was shot dead last May, plunging the Netherlands into political crisis. Tipped to become the country's next prime minister, Fortuyn's death galvanised support for his fledgling political movement...