Many Dutch cleverly combine both hatreds.
And the Dutch, as we now know, are not inclined to be humble about strongly held opinions.
The worst rhetorical tendencies in Dutch are now obscenely on display, the Dutch are exhibiting their usually soft-voiced talent for vile dialectic at full volume, cacophonous and nauseating.
I am fairly disgusted with my fellow-Dutchspeakers at present.
AHMED ABOUTALEB
A noteworthy exception is Rotterdam burgomaster Ahmed Aboutaleb, who firmly let it be known that phrases like "hamas hamas all joden aan het gas" ('Hamas Hamas all Jews to the gas'), "falastin baladna wa'l Yahud kilabna" ('Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs'), "itbach al Yahud" ('massacre the Jews'), and "al mawt al Yahud" ('death to the Jews'), are utterly unacceptable, and will lead to arrests and prosecution.
[The Netherlands has laws about hate-speech and incitement that in some respects are more authoritarian than laws in the United States.]
"Aboutaleb, maak het waar!"
[Kaptein Jean-Luc Picard]
Of course he will hampered by the wussie ineffectiveness of the Dutch police, and red-tapish attitudes of the Dutch judiciary.
But at this point, not only are the Feijenoord fans rabidly disgusted with him, but also members of his own ethnic group and religious community. Nor did this win him any friends among ordinary Dutchmen, many of whom either despise the Jews or loathe the Arabs.
DUTCH MUSLIMS
There are nearly a million Muslims in the Netherlands. Most of them live in the Randstad (the conglomeratus of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht). Most of them are urban. Many of them were born there, and many of them speak Dutch as their first language.
Dutch is the only language in which they read and write.
What you see in the videos of the demonstrations in the Netherlands are a few thousand people, fully half of whom are 'autochtoon' (native Dutch). The Rotterdam riot videos show a slightly greater number of people than Amsterdam or Utrecht, with a slightly greater proportion of allochthonous background.
That accounts for maybe about ten or twenty thousand angry Muslims, all told. Probably less, as the same people have taken part in several demonstrations.
What you do NOT see are the majority of Islamic-Dutch, but the rowdy problem cases. What you see are not the quiet shopkeepers, businessmen, or labourers, but the failures to assimilate. These are the people who are marooned between two societies, who do not even fit into their own ethnicity, and have no hope of ever blending into the mainstream.
As with all ethnicities, the problem cases tend to confirm to stereotypes.
The majority of every ethnic group are usually invisible. By assimilating, they fade into the background. It is only when members of a group misbehave that their ethnicity or affiliation becomes an issue.
The anti-Israel riots in places like London, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Antwerp - all seem to have rigidified ethnic/cultural hatreds. Precisely the same animosity as marked European society when the only groups to hate were Jews, Gypsies, and Lombards.
Europe has not changed much. But it has learned to share its hatred.
But at this point, not only are the Feijenoord fans rabidly disgusted with him, but also members of his own ethnic group and religious community. Nor did this win him any friends among ordinary Dutchmen, many of whom either despise the Jews or loathe the Arabs.
DUTCH MUSLIMS
There are nearly a million Muslims in the Netherlands. Most of them live in the Randstad (the conglomeratus of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht). Most of them are urban. Many of them were born there, and many of them speak Dutch as their first language.
Dutch is the only language in which they read and write.
What you see in the videos of the demonstrations in the Netherlands are a few thousand people, fully half of whom are 'autochtoon' (native Dutch). The Rotterdam riot videos show a slightly greater number of people than Amsterdam or Utrecht, with a slightly greater proportion of allochthonous background.
That accounts for maybe about ten or twenty thousand angry Muslims, all told. Probably less, as the same people have taken part in several demonstrations.
What you do NOT see are the majority of Islamic-Dutch, but the rowdy problem cases. What you see are not the quiet shopkeepers, businessmen, or labourers, but the failures to assimilate. These are the people who are marooned between two societies, who do not even fit into their own ethnicity, and have no hope of ever blending into the mainstream.
As with all ethnicities, the problem cases tend to confirm to stereotypes.
The majority of every ethnic group are usually invisible. By assimilating, they fade into the background. It is only when members of a group misbehave that their ethnicity or affiliation becomes an issue.
The anti-Israel riots in places like London, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Antwerp - all seem to have rigidified ethnic/cultural hatreds. Precisely the same animosity as marked European society when the only groups to hate were Jews, Gypsies, and Lombards.
Europe has not changed much. But it has learned to share its hatred.
1 comment:
Some lovely Aboutaleb quotes:
"In het publieke domein heb je respect voor elkaar. Je dient met je poten van elkaar af te blijven. Punt uit."
[In the public domain, you respect one and other. You keep your paws off each other. End of discussion]
"Het kan niet zo zijn dat je zegt: ‘‘ik ben moslim en dit moet je wel doen en dat niet’’. De straat is van iedereen."
[It cannot be that you say 'I am Muslim and you have to do this and not that'. The street belongs to everybody.]
"In Nederland is er geen religie die dominant is, dat zullen we ook nooit aanvaarden."
[In the Netherlands there is no religion that is dominant, nor would we ever accept it.]
"Hoe kun je respect voorop stellen, als je weinig bereid bent anderen te respecteren?"
[How can you demand respect, if you aren't prepared to respect others?]
"Je wilt niet dat je vader wordt bespuugd als hij in djellaba naar de moskee loopt, maar je mag dus wel een keppeltje van het hoofd van een joodse meneer trekken?"
[You don't want your father to be spat on when he goes to the mosque wearing a djellaba, but somehow it's okay to yank the kippah off the head of a Jewish gentleman?]
"Die ideeën heersen onder de bevolking en zijn veel gevaarlijker dan we denken. Het wordt nu weggepoetst onder het mom dat antisemitisme alleen leeft onder de allochtone onderontwikkelden. Maar let op: het gevoel heerst ook onder hoog opgeleide autochtone Nederlanders. Laat je niet in slaap sussen."
[Those ideas are out there and they are far more dangerous than we think. Now we pooh-pooh them by pretending that anti-Semitism only has currency among the uneducated immigrants; but beware - those beliefs are also current among well-educated Netherlanders. Don't let yourself be fooled.]
Where did I find these quotes?
Here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/01/ahmed-aboutaleb.html
Ahmed Aboutaleb
A posting from Friday, January 27, 2006. Nearly two years ago.
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