Dutch Protestants and Muslims have joined in preparing a joint statement criticizing the yet-to-be-released film by Geert Wilders. The Protestant Church and two umbrella organizations of the Muslim community in the Netherlands (CGI/Contact Group Muslims and Government CMO) have committed to the joint statement. “Although our freedom of speech allows the publication of this film,…
The statements of right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders are on the same level as anti-Semitism. That’s the thrust of a full-page advertisement that Dutch-Jewish television producer Harry de Winter placed on the front page of Monday’s edtion of newspaper de Volkskrant. Dutch Muslims have reacted with surprise. The text of the advertisement, which has also…
Muslims make up five percent of the Dutch population, less than previously thought, official figures showed Wednesday. The new figures show the Netherlands has some 850,000 Muslims. Earlier figures had put the number at 5.8 percent of the population in 2004. The largest group of Muslims are people of Turkish descent, who make up 38…
A man shot dead by Amsterdam police after he stabbed two officers had a history of mental problems, and had at one point been interrogated as a witness in a terrorism case, the city’s district attorney said Monday. The man who was shot dead Sunday was identified as 22-year-old Bilal B., a Dutch man of…
Mohammed Farjani says that since his arrival in the Netherlands 38 years ago he has wanted nothing more than to be integrated. Living among many other Moroccan immigrants in Slotervaart, Amsterdam, he became concerned that the groups of dark-skinned youths sometimes congregating on street corners would intimidate native Dutch. “We created an association to work…
