Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Monday, December 20, 2004

The Dutch crisis -- they're aware of a problem but afraid to act

Great Christopher Caldwell article about the tumult in Holland since Van Gogh's murder. It's a long article, and the following is a only a snippet, intended to whet your appetite:

The Dutch immigration crisis--which, as elsewhere in Europe, is a polite way of saying its Islam crisis--has moved to a higher pitch than in any other country in the West. Naturally, security concerns are also driving reform. Justice minister Piet Hein Donner wants tougher laws to permit holding terrorist suspects without trial. Most everyone in the Netherlands, whether they support or oppose it, believes something like the Patriot Act is coming to their country, too. But on top of that, the Dutch public is being presented with an interpretation of their crisis that other publics in Europe are not. Namely, the view that the problem is not 'radicalism' or 'marginalization' or 'fundamentalism' but Islam--that Islam and democracy don't coexist well. There are several reasons that the debate has taken a different turn in the Netherlands, but primary among them is the presence of outspoken Muslims.