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Sunday 12 February RNW - NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM THE NETHERLANDS IN 10 LANGUAGES, WORLDWIDE 24/7 ON RADIO, TV AND ONLINE

This week in the Netherlands

Published on : 8 January 2010 - 8:36pm | By Davion Ford
More about:

Inter-ethnic violence runs rampant in the Dutch town of Culemborg.

 

 

Also this week:

  • A journalist goes undercover to infiltrate Geert Wilders' Freedom Party
  • The Netherlands remains in the icy grip of winter weather
  • And much more in News in Brief

 

 

Discussion

Nooraini Mydin 14 January 2010 - 11:48am / UK

I am a Muslim living in the UK and everytime I see terrorism committed by people who call themselves Muslims, I cringe because ultimately Muslims (I refuse to use the word "moderate" and there is only one type of Muslims and the terrorists who kill innocent are NOT Muslims by virtue of their actions regardless of what they may believe) like myself will pay the price in increased racism towards us. It is clear that Geert Wilders is a fascist who hates Muslims and is trying to vilify Muslims through his hate campaign and his idiotic film which is a cut and paste of verses from the Holy Quran which he misinterprets and superimposes with video images of carnage around the world. No one if any intellect would swallow this crap (pardon my French as they say...). However, on watching the clip about the attack by Moroccans on the Moluccan family I am appalled. Here were are, Muslims being made out to be terrorists and oppressors and these Moroccans are playing straight into their hands. Why? Can someone tell me what is going on? I love Morocco and the Moroccan people and I cannot imagine how such a wonderful country can breed such hatred? I have never seen any unpleasant behaviour from Moroccans throughout my visits there. What went wrong with these people? Aren't you grateful that the Netherlands has given you a safe home? Why are you dragging the name of Muslims and Moroccans in the mud with you? Can you blame the Moluccan mother for saying she will now vote for Geert Wilders?

Anonymous 9 January 2010 - 6:34am / USA

I think you are missing part of the reality of Islamic extremism. It is not the radical Imans who are oppressing the people. On the whole, these Iman are taking advantage of the oppression that already exists. And Americans are going to have to come to terms with the fact that the US is partly responsible for many of the conditions in the Middle East that have led to the growth of radical Islam. Saudi Arabia is a prime example. I find it interesting that no one in the US is talking about Saudi Arabia. 19 of the 9-11 attackers came from there and it's no coincedence that the Saudi regime is likely the most oppressive in the entire region. Hundreds of billions of dollars in oil-revenue spill into that country each year. And while the extended Al Saud family carry on like the ultimate hedonists, a large number of Saudi's don't have even basic amenities like running water. And this is a regime the United States has propped up for many many years, all in the name of securing a steady supply of oil. So it's not a black and white issue. It's complicated. Of course the terrorists are not justified in blowing up innocent people and advocating the destruction of the West. But we have committed our own sins in their homelands. How many innocent civilians have we killed there. And now I am talking before 9-11, all the back the beginning of the 20th century. Again, I do not support terrorism, but if Americans and the West, if we are honest with ourselves and patient enough to study history then we are forced to admit that some of these are our own chickens coming home to roost. And I hear a lot of complaining about the situation from you and presley, but no ideas about what can be done to change the living conditions in the Middle East so that people will not be so desperate as to see blowing themselves up as a viable option. I say the West stop buying oil from the Saudis if they are unwilling to dramatically improve the the living conditions of ordinary citizens. Remember, from our perspective it is easy to voice how much we cannot relate to people willing to be so barbaric in their actions. But these are people like you and me. Had we been born under those conditions we may have turned out the same way.

Hiram 9 January 2010 - 4:27pm / USA

"And I hear a lot of complaining about the situation from you and presley, but no ideas about what can be done to change the living conditions in the Middle East so that people will not be so desperate as to see blowing themselves up as a viable option."......Not all the millions of desperate people who live under deplorable living conditions of the Middle East wrap explosives around their bodies, walk into crowded shopping centers and and kill themselves and hundreds of others. The ones who do kill themselves and others are religious pawns and are manipulated in a skillful manner and in a religious manner by imams and their religious lieutenants. Millions of people from all parts of the planet, not just the Middle East, live in deplorable conditions but do not murder. { What is taking place in the world scene today is a Holy War (Jihad) and it is about religion. In the 1940's, when the Muslims broke-up India and thousands were killed, it wasn't about the deplorable conditions in India, it was about Islam. There is very little correlation with what is taking place in the Middle East and living conditions. One would think that the time, effort and money spent by Islamic Jidadists could be used to make life better for the people of the Middle East but one can see it is not. All of those rich Muslim countries should be spending billions of dollars to make their people better but they don't. Also, the US might support some of those countries but they don't tell them how to spend their money. { Your very last sentence: "Had we been born under those conditions we may have turned out the same way." is correct. "We may have" is not "we would have." Don't justify the crimes of Islamic, Jihadist murderers with the deplorable conditions of the human population in the Middle East when it is simply the deplorable teachings of their religion towards anyone who is not Muslim or who does not support the Jidahist cause.

Anonymous 8 January 2010 - 11:39pm / USA

presely, you are typical of the narrowminded simple understanding of the world that unfortunately a sizeable minority of this country embraces. you know nothing of nuance, patience or of human compassion. much like the small group of Islamic-extremists you claim to detest, you too would remake the world with the simple solutions of your dogmatic reasoning. this is not a war against Islam, it is a war against the oppression and ignorance that corrupts minds and breeds terrorism. if you are part of the culture of enlightenment you refer to, then you should recognize that the only way stop terrorism, is to find a way to lift up the downtrodden peoples of the world and eliminate the causes of this radical behavior. and this is something that will take generations; the simple truth is that it wont likely go away in our lifetimes. justice and equality does not yet prevail enough in this world. but the people who commit these acts are human like you and me. had we been cultivated under similar circumstances, we may well grown to become terrorists as well. that is not to excuse their actions, but your claim that these people are animals, somehow unworthy of dignity is misguided and unenlightend.

Hiram 9 January 2010 - 2:43am / USA

"if you are part of the culture of enlightenment you refer to, then you should recognize that the only way stop terrorism, is to find a way to lift up the downtrodden peoples of the world and eliminate the causes of this radical behavior."...........Anonymous, there are hundreds of millions of down-trodden humans on this planet and they are not murdering thousands of humans around the planet like Islam has and is doing right now. No, it is not a war with Islam but Islam has declared a war on the West and all Muslims who support the West. { No, they are not animals per se but you couldn't tell it by the way they try to blow-up airlines and kill innocent humans. You are right when you stated "it is a war against the oppression and ignorance that corrupts minds and breeds terrorism." Islamic imams are oppressive and it is they who oppress their own people into a frenzy of hate. The down-trodden are not the ones murdering innocent humans. It is the religious fanatics who seek power over their followers. They are on a power trip and they will not quit until they are removed from the scene.

presley 8 January 2010 - 10:47pm / US

First of all thank you Dutchman for stopping the underpants bomber on chrsimtas day....seems the Americans sitting NEXT to him didnt have the balls to do so!! Jumping out of his set 4 ROWS back is quite impressive and BTW, American papers didnt even cover that aspect of the story!
As for imigration...I LOVE Gert Wilders....he just says what no one else will that the ignorance of Islam is breeding all over the world and will snuff out civilization with too many babies which WE the intelligent, Christian individuals have to support with ourt tax dollars. Beware...cultures of enlightenment will disappear right before your eyes...America is struggling with the "free rights" that Obama has granted these animals by allowing them to appear in civil court!!!! We need GERT!!!

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