A harassed gay minority in a conservative suburb in otherwise tolerant Amsterdam has found a guardian angel in the local Muslim mayor. Ahmed Marcouch, 41, is on a self-appointed mission to end homophobia in Slotervaart, just a stones’ throw from the capital but light-years away from its anything-goes mentality. To make his point, Mayor Marcouch…
Ahmed Marcouch, chairman of the heavily immigrant Amsterdam neighborhood of Slotervaart, is taking it upon himself to fight persistent homophobia in the locality, including presenting a memorandum with measures to make the neighborhood more gay-friendly. Name-calling, being spit on, and harassment are common experiences for gay persons passing street corners – and a number of…
Councillor Marcouch of the Slotervaart neighborhood in Amsterdam has proposed ideas for a “city in itself” – a flourishing Muslim community that can arise on its own. Marcouch proposed his ideas in an internal letter to the other neighborhoods in Amsterdam-West. He has proposed the neighborhoods to exist outside the beltway, which poses essential differences…
Ahmed Marcouch, chairman of the Amsterdam neighborhood of Slotervaart, said that Dutch politics and society should give orthodox Muslims space to practice their faith, and subsequently, show that the values of freedom of religion are high on their agenda. According to Marcouch, freedom of religion in modern society is demonstrated by its connection with the orthodox…
The mayor of the Amsterdam neighborhood Slotervaart, Ahmed Marcouch, has said that public schools ought to offer more space for religion, particularly Islam. According to Marouch, this would take some of the burden and responsibility off of the mosque, by allowing for a more open and public practice of religion for Muslim children and young…
