In the past I have accused the Dutch of becoming more xenophobic and racist than ever before. So today, when I clicked on the site for the Algemeen Dagblad, I was not surprised to find the following:
Article about soccer: 4 comments
Airplane poo: 1 comment
More layoffs necessary: no comments
Traffic issues: 13 comments
Pillow fight with a hot babe: 3 comments
Deaths in Abidjan: no comments
Ten months for beating a bus driver:
50 comments
http://www.ad.nl/binnenland/3114559/Tien_maanden_voor_slaan_chauffeur.html
The article is in Dutch, so it might not be immediately apparent why it merited fifty comments.
But the very first sentence is instructive: "De rechtbank in Utrecht heeft maandag de 19-jarige Abdelmallak B. uit Soest veroordeeld tot tien maanden gevangenisstraf..." ('the court in Utrecht on Monday sentenced nineteen year old Abdelmallak B. from Soest to ten months jail time.....').
Mere mention of the name of the perpetrator was enough to generate interest.
A name like Abdelmallak tells the average Jan or Kees that the criminal probably has an immigrant background, is almost certainly a Moroccan, definitely a Muslim.
And despite the vast majority of Moroccans in the Netherlands being quite as law-abiding as the 'natives', the 'natives' tend to overlook their own flaws and obsess over those of resident Arabs and Muslims.
BAD MOROCCAN, NO BISCUIT!
I am certainly not a fan of Arabs or Muslims, as must have been evident from some of my previous posts. But Arabs or Muslims are NOT treated fairly by the 'native' members of Dutch society. Everyone is indeed equal before the law (well, in theory they are), but assuredly not in the eyes of the average Dutchman. Whose bile-spew is more bitter for those he chooses to despise - like immigrants, foreigners, and the faithful of religions other than his own.
BAD YANKEE, NO BANANA!
Lest you consider this accusation far-fetched, I should also mention that there were twenty four comments underneath an article about a shooting at a nursing home in North Carolina.
http://www.ad.nl/buitenland/3113430/Acht_mensen_doodgeschoten_in_verpleeghuis.html
Most of the comments were venomously anti-American, and a few were even sneeringly negative over Obama. You see, Americans are resentfully despised by many Dutch, who find themselves both fascinated and repulsed by our antics. We are the quintessence of 'foreign'.
For comparison, there were only two comments underneath an article about a terrorist attack in Pakistan that took twenty lives, nine underneath an abortion demonstration in Madrid, and thirteen comments about international spying by hackers in China.
BAD JEW, NO KNISH!
On the other hand, there were SEVENTY FIVE comments underneath an article about a youth orchestra from Jenin that was disbanded by the Palestinian authorities because of a concert for holocaust survivors in Israel.
http://www.ad.nl/buitenland/3112776/Holocaust_is_politieke_zaakrsquo.html
That last is easily explained, of course. Many if not most Dutch hate Jews with a passion, though others love them, albeit with considerably less passion. And ALL of the Dutch obsess over them. After all, like the Moroccans, Jews are immigrants, foreign, and of another religion.
Jews are a trifecta of everything that makes the Dutch queasy.
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Was there ever a time when the Dutch were tolerant of outsiders?
I mean genuinely tolerant?
Was there ever a time when the Dutch were tolerant of outsiders?
I mean genuinely tolerant?
Individually, many Dutch are genuinely tolerant. Much like many French are charming, and Arabs delightful hosts.
But the degree of mindyerownbiznis apathy and blinkers guarantees selective blindness by the Dutch towards intolerance. The average Dutchman just cannot see racism or bigotry in his own society, or anything at all which the rest of us would consider glaring flaws - it is, however, extremely easy to see all the faults of America, Israel, and 'the Muslims'. While not taking the splendid examples of the Americans, Israelis, and Muslims with whom he has come into context as in any way representative of the group.
All Americans are grossly overweight ignorant hicks who scarf down McDonalds as if addicted, all Israelis are Kahanists out to massacre innocent little Palestinian butterflies, and all Muslims are wild-eyed savages hunting down gays to kill and women to infibulate or clitorect.
Of course, they don't like Germans, French, Scandinavians, Iberians, or the British either - except on an individual level.
I proudly credit all of my many dislikes and pettiness to having spent my formative years over there. Even though as an American I was often the target of dislike and pettiness, I learned a lot of my 'social skills' from my peers.
To think in Dutch is sometimes to be dysfunctional. Hetgeen bijna iedere Nederlander, na er goed over na te denken, wel zal toegeven.
Yes, yes, this is all very edifying: now, what about the "pillow fight with a hot babe" article?
I agree - pillow fight with hot babe is how I ideally envision my retirement.
Or my billable hours. Either way works.
---Grant Patel
Please to be providing translation and scholarly commentary.
Even if you have to invent half of it.
---Grant Patel
PICTURES!
Well!!!!?!????!
Where's the pictures?!?! We DEMAND pictures!
---Grant Photoshop
Exhibits A, B, and C. At the very least. In color, and diagrammatic.
Oh yes!
---Gribbunt Phantasmus
Incorrigible. And silly. And on and on he goes. Grant, get a wife!
Snooky - he'd prefer a teen ager. Like you.
A knish is a Jewish samosa. It should be served with hot sauce, mint-chutney, and tamarind.
Buon gusto, ji!
---Grant Patel
Or mango pickle.
Everything is better with mango pickle, even sex. It is like yoghurt in that regard.
---Grant Patel
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