In Holland, these days you will hear and read comments about Israel and the Jews that - unless my memory deceives me - you did not hear and read ten, fifteen years ago. I do not know if what is behind that is anti-Semitism ( old or new, indigenous or ‘imported’ ), anti-Zionism, an anonymity ( provided by the internet ) that did not exist or was not very common yet in the 1990s, the effect of 9/11 and Islamist terror, a false sense of solidarity with the Palestinians or a combination of all that. Still, in the Dutch online media which offer the possibility of providing feedback you will almost always encounter anti-Jewish verbal violence whenever a subject comes up that involves Israel or the Jews.

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Geert Wilders - Dutch member of parliament - has finished his anti-Islam movie. He’s currently negotiating with Dutch networks; at this moment one gets the impression that most networks don’t want to broadcast the movie which became controversial before it was even made. Therefore, Wilders though; if left with no other option, I’ll put “Fitna” on the Internet. In order to do so, he has created a website: Fitnathemovie.com. (more…)

Dutch TV detective Peter R. De Vries has solved the Natalee Holloway case. Natalee’s family can finally have closure. (more…)

The Scream, a monument by Jeroen Henneman for director and columnist Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist, on November 2nd 2004 in Amsterdam. As I wrote in an article for the Dutch daily Friesch Dagblad on Thursday, his murder and that of Yitzhak Rabin ( on November 4th 1995, by a religious extremist who is not less fanatic than Mohammed B. ) are remembered in the same week. In 2005 I wrote an article ( sorry, it is in Dutch ) about two parallels between the two murders and the aftermath of each of them. Not only did both murderers obtain at least some of their goals ( polarization and alienation in the Netherlands, polarization and a lack of any perspective towards peace in Israel ), in both countries a dangerous level of understanding for the murderers’ despicable acts has been and continues to be expressed, in parallel ways, sometimes by highly reasonable people: “Of course the act of Yigal A./Mohammed B. is wrong and should be condemned, but hey, Rabin/Van Gogh should not have angered and frustrated so many people in the first place.”

This is a developing story, just off the wires:

The Dutch human rights activist Abdullah al-Mansouri has reportedly been sentenced to death in Iran. His son Adnan al-Mansouri says he received the news from a Syrian human rights organisation. He says his father, who was born in Iran, could be executed within 48 hours.

The details remain murky, but Amnesty International has confirmed that the Syrian organization mentioned is legitimate. More later.

Update by MvdG: NOS journaal adds  that the Dutch Parliament is “shocked” by the news. The PvdA, SP, VVD and Groenlinks demand action from Secretary of State Maxime Verhagen: they want him to talk to the Iranian ambassador. PvdA MP van Dam said: “We have to hurry. We must prevent him from being executed.” VVD MP Jules Maaten calls the conviction - if true - “barbaric.”

Sometimes it seems politicians will do anything to receive a few extra votes. In the same week in which yet another rightwing-populist movement was founded in the Netherlands, the Freedom Party ( PVV, led by Geert Wilders, who is mostly known for his crusade against Islam and his Mozart-like hairstyle ) tried to grab the headlines with an offensive aimed at a sandwich containing vegetables and halal kebab. According to the PVV-MP Dion Graus the restaurant of the Dutch Parliament should not be allowed to sell any halal products, because such products are obtained “ from a slaughtering method that is unfriendly towards and unworthy of animals ”. It was clear that with his attack the honorable Mr Graus – who in the past has been accused of, among other things, abusing his pregnant wife, though none of the accusations led to prosecution or conviction – had more than just the well-being of animals in mind, when he openly expressed his disappointment that “ the islamization of our country has also reached the menu of our parliament ”. A visitor to the website of the Dutch daily De Telegraaf rightly remarked: “Does(n’t) the PVV have any other subjects to deal with?” (more…)

The concerted effort to terminate Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s relationship with her adopted motherland came to a conclusion in Dutch parliament yesterday. My latest column summarizes the affair and looks at the latest revelations:

Hirsi Ali must have sensed that the mechanics of the debate were not working in her favor and her lawyer released a series of confidential documents right before the debate, much to the annoyance of the government. They make for good reading.

[…]

Yet, the most astounding piece to come out of these documents is the fact that during one of these security-evaluation meetings Hirsi Ali was advised to seek psychiatric counseling. Hirsi Ali declined this offer – something which the government apparently was willing to fund – by replying that in case her mental condition would require ‘counseling’ she would just as well contact a good friend.

Read the whole thing here.

Whenever I am asked about Dutch movies I answer without hesitation that the best one ever made was Soldier of Orange (1977). It was at the time the most expensive movie production ever made and it launched the international careers of both Rutger Hauer and Paul Verhoeven. With this movie Verhoeven - who went on to achieve Hollywood fame with ‘Basic Instinct’ - brought his unique brand of realism to a larger and international audience. It meant that ‘Soldier’ was enriched with quite a bit of sex and a few torture scenes that stand the test of time and are as haunting today as they were thirty years ago. But above all it was the script that was able to condense the experiences of the Dutch under Nazi rule into a compelling film built around a hero who waged his own struggle against the brutal German oppressor.

The movie was based on the autobiographical book written by the man who came to be known as the ‘Soldier of Orange’, Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema who died in his home on Hawaii earlier this week at the age of 90. (more…)

Michael posted some interesting Dutch poll numbers earlier today. They represent exactly what I have argued a little while ago in my essay called ‘Dutch Confusion’. The traditional parties have lost their appeal and new outfits on both the left and right are increasingly able to pick up disgruntled and directionless floating voters. Beware the next election.

Crossposted on Peaktalk