May 19, 2012 A high school student from a Norwegian school on Gran Canaria had stirred up much controversy due to the speech given in her school on the day of celebrating the Norwegian Independence. She expressed partial support to the political views held by Ander Behring Breivik. The present students and their parents (Norwegian…
14 April 2012 A poster displayed in a primarily Muslim neighbourhood of Utrecht which depicts a woman in a short, strapless dress has been covered over. A black plastic bag has been taped atop the posters, which are promotional material for the city’s museum weekend. A message on the bag reads, “La ilahe il Allah-…
It is devastating to see an internationally renowned German literary figure like Günter Grass bandying about anti-Semitic clichés. A commentary by Klaus Hillenbrand It is more than heartening when poetry is for once allowed to lead more than a niche existence in this country. When was the last time half the population was deep in…
8 March 2012 A research project by members of the University of Amsterdam has concluded that religious organizations provide a source of de-escalation in tensions around Islam in the Netherlands. Commissioned by the justice ministry’s Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC), the project studied five cases of criticism of Islam in western countries, including the…
7 February 2012 The Dutch cabinet’s plans to introduce a ban on the burqa continues to draw criticism. The Dutch Council of State, the government’s highest advisory body, as announced that it does not see the need for the ban, and suggests the government is being led by “subjective feelings of insecurity”. The advisory body…
