Press Review 21 December 2009

Laura Dekker sails into the limelight once more and a would-be radio broadcaster is said to have links with Islamic fundamentalism. Protestant schools resist lessons about being gay, a newspaper group is sold and we could be in for a white Christmas.

More publicity for sailing girl Laura

Laura Dekker, the girl who wanted to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world, makes most of today's front pages. After going missing on Thursday, 'sailing girl Laura', as the papers have dubbed her, has apparently turned up on the Caribbean island of St Martin.

De Volkskrant gives the background to the drama. Laura planned to sail round the world earlier this year but was stopped from doing so by the courts. She was placed under the supervision of the Child Welfare Bureau until 1 July 2010, making a round the world trip impossible before that date. The case sparked enormous media interest.

Last Thursday, she disappeared from her father's house, having withdrawn 3,500 euros. Her parents are separated, and her father, with whom she lives, only told her mother of Laura's disappearance on Friday. The child welfare authorities were then informed and a major search got underway. Laura's lawyer says there is a chance she will be taken into care once she is brought back to the Netherlands.

The AD quotes a friend of her father who says the courts are to blame for what has happened. "It's been in the air for some time. She was sick to death of all that child welfare bullshit [...] I can't blame her. So much has happened. Laura was convinced she'd do a great solo trip. She'd made meticulous preparations. She was really ready for it. And then she was blocked like that."

A child welfare spokesperson has another explanation: "It's clear she's caved in under all the attention. We hope the media won't swoop en masse on her again." Fat chance.

Broadcaster with fundamentalist links?

Also on its front page, de Volkskrant says Yahia Bouyafa, a prominent administrator in the Dutch-Muslim community, has links to the fundamentalist group, the Society of Muslim Brothers or the Muslim Brotherhood, which is based in Egypt. The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, says the Islamic organisation wants to set up an ultra-orthodox bloc in Western Europe.

Mr Bouyafa is on the board of one of three organisations applying to become the Dutch Muslim public service broadcaster. The broadcasting licence is due to be awarded to one of the applicants before the end of the year.

Although he denies links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the paper says Mr Bouyafa is chairman of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in the Netherlands (FION), which is part of a Europe-wide group, the FIOE. On the Muslim Brotherhood's website, the FIOE is described as "the European branch of the Society of Muslim Brothers".

Schools reject 'gay' lessons

A majority of MPs want primary schools to teach children about sexual diversity, but the idea is being resisted by orthodox Protestant institutions. Today's Trouw says the schools are also unwilling to scrap unofficial rules which stop teaching staff living in out-of-marriage or gay relationships.

Pieter Moens from a Protestant schools association tells the paper: "We don't keep quiet about homosexuality. But it's going too far to say homosexuals are normal." He goes on: "Teachers with homosexual feelings work in Protestant schools. But they don't want to live in relationships, because they choose a Christian lifestyle."

Amsterdam's Islamic College has no policy on gay teachers because the issue just has not come up. Mustafa Kasri, deputy headmaster, says: "I don't think there's any concrete policy. However, tolerance is part of our mission. [...] Homosexuals may not be insulted or threatened: they must be able to come out as being homosexual."

Trouw leaves the last word to Thijs Veraart, headmaster of a Roman Catholic school: "Young people use the word 'homo' as an insult. That tells you something, doesn't it? Schools should teach children how to be good citizens, and that includes dealing with all forms of discrimination, including that of homosexuals."

NRC newspaper group sold

A number of today's papers cover the sale of the NRC group of newspapers for 70 million euros. "Today we are ourselves news" crows an inside headline in nrc.next. It says over 200 editors from NRC Media voted overwhelmingly to back the sale of the newspaper group, to Dutch investment company Egeria and a television company.

It is hoped the sale will steer NRC Media into calmer waters after a year of uncertainty in the wake of financial problems. The editors at NRC believe their independence is guaranteed under the terms of the sale.

The new owners stress their "sacred belief" in the future of newspapers. They think they can boost sales of both NRC Handelsblad and nrc.next, and that nrc.next should compete more with de Volkskrant.

White Christmas?

All today's papers cover the problems caused by the heavy snowfalls of the last few days. The AD's headline says it all: "Heavy snow paralyses the Netherlands" and, just in case you didn't get the message, goes on: "People advised not to travel by train again today".

"It's going to be bitter" announces De Telegraaf's headline. The cold weather, it says, is set to continue till Christmas. That means continuing uncertainty for drivers and rail passengers. However, the paper is not all doom and gloom. It says the chance of a white Christmas is growing by the day. If we do manage one, it will apparently be the first for over 25 years.

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