| Topic: |
Sociology > Education |
| User: |
"nan" |
| Date: |
18 Nov 2004 04:27:35 PM |
| Object: |
V.Van Gogh Murder By Radical Muslims & Dutch Reaction |
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San Francisco Cronicle, www.sfgate.com
Death of a filmmaker
Debra J. Saunders
Thursday, November 18, 2004
IF YOU WANT to know where the outrage is when Islamist thugs butcher a
civilian, look to the Netherlands. There may not be much of an outcry
over the slaughter of humanitarian worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq, but
the Dutch are up in arms about the Nov. 2 murder of Theo van Gogh, a
columnist/talk-show host/filmmaker and provocateur (also related to
the famous Vincent) who was shot, almost decapitated and stabbed in
the heart because of his criticism of Islam.
There is one corpse, but the Nov. 2 attack on van Gogh as he pedaled
his bicycle near his Amsterdam home could be the Dutch Sept. 11.
Many Dutch are incensed (as they should be) that a man would be killed
for what he says and thinks. The government was clear that the murder
was an assault on free expression. It is also an assault on the Dutch
way of life.
It's true that van Gogh used crude and gratuitous words to describe
Muslims. He had earned their wrath. But he was the child of a free
society and he did not deserve to die.
The fact that one Mohammed Bouyeri, the 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan
arrested for the murder, could believe otherwise scares the Dutch.
Bouyeri grew up in the Netherlands. He went to Dutch schools. He had
worked at a Dutch youth center. Raised in the bosom of a country that
prided itself in religious tolerance, Bouyeri turned to the dark side
as he joined those who believe they have a right to kill nonbelievers.
According to reports from witnesses, Bouyeri put a knife through van
Gogh's heart as he pinned a five-page jihad letter on the dying man.
The anti- Semitic letter promised "fear" and warned that Europe and
America would suffer. Already the letter has delivered.
As the New York Times reported, two lawmakers went into hiding. The
Times of London quoted a letter sent to a Dutch officeholder that
warned of a "brigade" of jihadists who could kill "the enemies of
Islam."
Meanwhile, Dutch law enforcement has rallied. Officials rounded up
seven young men for aiding in the van Gogh killing. All seven were
foreign born.
Before van Gogh's murder, the Dutch had passed their own Patriot Act
so that prosecutors could go after the extremists. Now, lowlanders are
calling for even more law enforcement.
An editorial in The Telegraaf called for the expulsion of extremists
with dual citizenship, as well as a crackdown on the hate-spewers.
(There is no Dutch First Amendment protecting the right of free
speech.) There is talk of passing laws requiring Muslims to learn
Dutch -- even though Bouyeri and his parents were fluent.
"We are not going to tolerate this," announced Deputy Prime Minister
Gerrit Zalm, according to the New York Sun. Indeed, he declared "war"
on radical Islam.
While the American left has suggested that Washington emulate Our
Betters in Europe by being less aggressive in the war on terrorism,
Our Betters in Amsterdam are pushing for tougher laws, more
restrictions on hate speech and aggressive enforcement of immigration
law.
Last year, an animal rights nut was sentenced to 18 years -- which
means he'll probably serve a mere 12 years -- for killing Dutch
politician Pim Fortuyn. (Van Gogh was working on a documentary of the
assassination when he was killed.) If Bouyeri is found guilty, he
won't get off so easy.
I don't envy the Dutch. They too have to negotiate the delicate
balancing act of fulfilling their duty to protect a way of life, while
not needlessly alienating the majority of Muslims who aren't radical
or violent. In this case, noted political scientist Dennis Bark of the
Hoover Institution, the Dutch need to find ways to work with Muslim
leaders to offer Muslim youth "a hope for the future."
Bark has a point. But any such effort also has to be clear in its
renunciation of violence. The villain in this story isn't Dutch
society, it is Islamic extremism. And Dutch Muslim leaders could do a
better job at renouncing the bloodshed.
In the meantime, the Dutch have no choice but to look at law
enforcement to be part of the solution because the knife that stabbed
the heart of Theo van Gogh, also stabbed at the ability of the Dutch
to speak their minds and elect officials of their own choosing.
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| User: "Cleopatra" |
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| Title: Re: V.Van Gogh Murder By Radical Muslims & Dutch Reaction |
19 Nov 2004 11:58:22 AM |
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(nan) wrote in message news:<8f49fa86.0411181427.184580ca@posting.google.com>...
(snip)
I was wondering, Nan, if you picked up on an aspect of this situation
which goes quite unnoticed. When western democracies harbor so many
slobbering meatheads like Mr. Alan Dope, death wish imbeciles who
refuse to grasp the fact that not all cultures are equal and that
their own constitutions are not suicide pacts, when these outrages
occur they have no internal moral mechanisms left to formulate a
rational plan of action.
Neither do they recognize that the perverse nature of their worldview
necessarily co-opts doing those things necessary to ensure their own
survival. This explains their determination to temporize with evil
even on this scale, and why their fundamental nihilism ultimately
takes the form of treason and disloyalty to their own people, their
own countries.
We now have many like this in our own country, and if we're to survive
as a people we must winnow out the worst of them. One might even say
the enemy within is far more insidious a threat than any external
enemies.
Cleopatra
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