It's Deja Vu All Over Again
Just about everyone seems to know how liberal the people of the Netherlands are. The "businesses" in Amsterdam where marijuana and sex are practically commodities besides being tolerated; the same-sex marriages that have been performed legally for many years, and so on. So what problem could the Dutch possibly have in common with the United States, which so many Europeans view as an anal, repressive society?
Terrorism.
A story in Sunday's Washington Post says:
The Netherlands is a country torn between its efforts to preserve a cherished identity and the need to protect itself from murderous fanatics. That's an experience familiar to practically every democracy faced with a terrorist threat...What the Dutch are discovering is that protecting their way of life may require undermining some of the very values they are trying to protect.
I want to quote from this story at length so that you'll have a full understanding of how this "you-can-do-anything-you like" attitude is proving to be, quite simply, wrong.
While the Dutch are worried about the threat to their culture, they are terrified of what they believe is an impending terrorist attack. Polls show that it's the top concern of the population. Recent events have given the Dutch reason to worry. A few weeks ago, news reports here announced that the Dutch parliament building had been sealed and that there were police activities in several cities. Anxious moments later, word got around that police raids had netted seven people suspected of plotting terrorist strikes. Just days later, authorities in Baltimore stopped all traffic for almost two hours in a major tunnel under the Baltimore Harbor, responding to a tip about a possible attack that reportedly came from a man held in custody in the Netherlands.
One of those arrested in the Dutch raids was Samir Azzouz, a baby-faced 19-year-old who had already faced Dutch justice a few months earlier. Azzouz went to trial last spring after police allegedly found he had links to theHofstad terror group. In his apartment they found explosives and maps of the Amsterdam airport, the parliament building and a nuclear power plant. But the progressive Dutch system, which does not even allow the media to reveal a convicted criminal's last name, ruled some of the evidence inadmissible and acquitted him of the terrorism charges, while convicting him of illegal arms possession.
The latest wave of arrests came after authorities said they found a video of Azzouz in which he said goodbye to his friends and family and, speaking in Arabic, referred to a certain "act" he was committing. Police claim he had been trying to buy explosives, and they believe he was planning a suicide bombing.
Many here expect an attack soon, perhaps to commemorate the anniversary of the day that changed everything. The day that so thoroughly traumatized Holland, not unlike America's 9/11, was Nov. 2, 2004, when a Muslim extremist killed and nearly decapitated the filmmaker Theo van Gogh in broad daylight on an Amsterdam street.
Van Gogh's own story captures the conflict over tolerance. The talented filmmaker made a career of stirring controversy in a country that has thrived on the unconventional. He had insulted just about every segment of society, and they put up with it. But when his film "Submission" offended some Muslims, extremists decided he, along with a number of politicians, must die. The killer, Mohammed Bouyeri, turned to van Gogh's mother after his conviction and said, "I do not feel your pain." He also vowed he would kill again if he were freed.
The immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, "Iron Rita," is spearheading a number of reforms that strike deep into the hearts of Dutch liberals. New immigrants, particularly from Muslim countries, are being required to take courses in Dutch language and society and they will have to pass a test to show their proficiency in Dutch culture in order to immigrate to the Netherlands. The latest proposal includes banning the burqa -- the head-to-toe cover worn by some Muslim women -- in public places. And a new plan would have foreigners expelled from the Netherlands for committing even minor crimes.
Note the use of the word "undermine" the Post reporter used in this story. It's a terrible choice of words. It suggests that it's O.K. for Muslim extremists to use violence to snuff out anyone who uses freedom of speech to disagree with them, but it's not O.K. for those who disagree to make their case in public or in the press. That's pathetic.
It seems to me that the Dutch are beginning to understand the meaning of a tried-and-true American expression that makes a lot of misguided people here cringe when they see it on the bumper sticker on the car in front of them:
Freedom isn't free.
Listen Here for the audio version of today's George Blog.
Just about everyone seems to know how liberal the people of the Netherlands are. The "businesses" in Amsterdam where marijuana and sex are practically commodities besides being tolerated; the same-sex marriages that have been performed legally for many years, and so on. So what problem could the Dutch possibly have in common with the United States, which so many Europeans view as an anal, repressive society?
Terrorism.
A story in Sunday's Washington Post says:
The Netherlands is a country torn between its efforts to preserve a cherished identity and the need to protect itself from murderous fanatics. That's an experience familiar to practically every democracy faced with a terrorist threat...What the Dutch are discovering is that protecting their way of life may require undermining some of the very values they are trying to protect.
I want to quote from this story at length so that you'll have a full understanding of how this "you-can-do-anything-you like" attitude is proving to be, quite simply, wrong.
While the Dutch are worried about the threat to their culture, they are terrified of what they believe is an impending terrorist attack. Polls show that it's the top concern of the population. Recent events have given the Dutch reason to worry. A few weeks ago, news reports here announced that the Dutch parliament building had been sealed and that there were police activities in several cities. Anxious moments later, word got around that police raids had netted seven people suspected of plotting terrorist strikes. Just days later, authorities in Baltimore stopped all traffic for almost two hours in a major tunnel under the Baltimore Harbor, responding to a tip about a possible attack that reportedly came from a man held in custody in the Netherlands.
One of those arrested in the Dutch raids was Samir Azzouz, a baby-faced 19-year-old who had already faced Dutch justice a few months earlier. Azzouz went to trial last spring after police allegedly found he had links to theHofstad terror group. In his apartment they found explosives and maps of the Amsterdam airport, the parliament building and a nuclear power plant. But the progressive Dutch system, which does not even allow the media to reveal a convicted criminal's last name, ruled some of the evidence inadmissible and acquitted him of the terrorism charges, while convicting him of illegal arms possession.
The latest wave of arrests came after authorities said they found a video of Azzouz in which he said goodbye to his friends and family and, speaking in Arabic, referred to a certain "act" he was committing. Police claim he had been trying to buy explosives, and they believe he was planning a suicide bombing.
Many here expect an attack soon, perhaps to commemorate the anniversary of the day that changed everything. The day that so thoroughly traumatized Holland, not unlike America's 9/11, was Nov. 2, 2004, when a Muslim extremist killed and nearly decapitated the filmmaker Theo van Gogh in broad daylight on an Amsterdam street.
Van Gogh's own story captures the conflict over tolerance. The talented filmmaker made a career of stirring controversy in a country that has thrived on the unconventional. He had insulted just about every segment of society, and they put up with it. But when his film "Submission" offended some Muslims, extremists decided he, along with a number of politicians, must die. The killer, Mohammed Bouyeri, turned to van Gogh's mother after his conviction and said, "I do not feel your pain." He also vowed he would kill again if he were freed.
The immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, "Iron Rita," is spearheading a number of reforms that strike deep into the hearts of Dutch liberals. New immigrants, particularly from Muslim countries, are being required to take courses in Dutch language and society and they will have to pass a test to show their proficiency in Dutch culture in order to immigrate to the Netherlands. The latest proposal includes banning the burqa -- the head-to-toe cover worn by some Muslim women -- in public places. And a new plan would have foreigners expelled from the Netherlands for committing even minor crimes.
Note the use of the word "undermine" the Post reporter used in this story. It's a terrible choice of words. It suggests that it's O.K. for Muslim extremists to use violence to snuff out anyone who uses freedom of speech to disagree with them, but it's not O.K. for those who disagree to make their case in public or in the press. That's pathetic.
It seems to me that the Dutch are beginning to understand the meaning of a tried-and-true American expression that makes a lot of misguided people here cringe when they see it on the bumper sticker on the car in front of them:
Freedom isn't free.
Listen Here for the audio version of today's George Blog.
posted by George Woods | 4:00 AM
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