Dutch Liberals Call to Stop Funding “Anti-Integration Activities”

15 November 2011 The ruling Liberal Party (VVD) of the Netherlands has requested that its home affairs minister stop granting funds to initiatives which ‘get in the way of integration’, such as organizations which offer separate swimming lessons for women. Single-sex activities, organizations which “oppose homosexual rights” or whose “activities conflict with democracy” should no…

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Dutch Ban on Ritual Slaughter in Doubt

October 19 2011 The future of a proposed ban on ritual slaughter in the Netherlands is in doubt, as the ruling VVD party appears unlikely to support the legislation in the senate. VVD Senator Sybe Schaap commented that the ban, which has drawn criticism from Muslim and Jewish religious organizations, ‘has a poor legal framework’….

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Dutch Statesman Claims West is a Danger to Islam

7 September 2011 Frits Bolkestein, former leader of the Dutch center-right VVD and a prominent “elder statesman”  in the country, has released a new book, The Intellectual Seduction: Dangerous Ideas in Politics. At a reading in Amsterdam Bolkestein expressed his opinion on Islam and multiculturalism in the Netherlands, disparaging cultural relativism and calling for European…

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Calls for PM Response on Dutch Politician’s Role in Norway Violence

Following the mass shootings in Norway last month, Dutch opposition parties have called for prime minister Mark Rutte to take a position on the role of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders with respect to the tragedy. Mentioned at least 30 times in the shooter’s manifeso, Wilders has publicly distanced himself from the event. In the polarized…

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Dutch Police Chief’s Burqa Comments Stir Controversy

Amsterdam police chief Bernard Welten has come under fire after suggesting that, should the burqa be banned in the country, his officers would not necessarily arrest women wearing the garment. Describing the issue as ‘extremely complicated’ Welten, noting that officers would have to ‘think hard’ before taking such a step. Under the governing coalition between…

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