The Dutch-Moroccan Aboutaleb, who has been mayor of Rotterdam since 2009, has pleaded for “patience” and ‘calmness’ in the debate about the role of Islam in society. He has been recently interviewed by Dutch newspaper Trouw, in which he discussed his views on the ways Islam has been debated in the Netherlands for the last…
This year 29 cases of radicalization have been reported, compared with 20 in 2013 and 16 in 2012, so there has been increase. According to the major, Ahmed Aboutaleb, this doesn’t mean that more youth become radicalized, but persons are more alert. The newspaper had an interview with Aboutaleb, in which he says that the…
25 September 2012 Response to the movie Innocence of Islam among Dutch Muslim communities has not had a strong public presence. Two peaceful demonstrations occurred on the city. On Friday September 15 the women’s organization Cleopatra organized a protest to the movie at Amsterdam’s Dam Square. On Sunday a group of about 50 people…
January 21 2011 Wikileaks documents have revealed a concerted effort by Washington to court a series of prominent Dutch Muslims in the wake of the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports that, following the murder, US authorities deemed the Netherlands home to the most poorly integrated Muslim community in Europe,…
December 17 2010 The Essalam Mosque in Rotterdam was opened by the city’s mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and city councilor Hamit Karakus on December 17. It is the largest mosque in the country, and opens after seven years of construction and considerable controversy surrounding the extent of “foreign influence” on the project. The building will serve…
