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11/11/2004:

"For Dutch, anger battles with tolerance"

by Craig S. Smith
Anger toward the Netherlands' Muslim community percolated among the crowd that gathered outside the funeral for the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was killed by an Islamic extremist a week ago.

The public debate over how conservative Islam fits into Europe's most tolerant, liberal society had already become a no-holds-barred affair before the killing of van Gogh, who had publicly and repeatedly used epithets against Muslims. But his killing has now polarized the country, giving the rest of Europe a disturbing glimpse of what may be in store if relations with the continent's growing immigrant communities are not managed more adeptly.

The anger is such that for the second time in two days an Islamic elementary school was attacked Tuesday, this time in Uden, part of what Dutch authorities fear are reprisals after van Gogh's killing. The authorities said that Muslim sites had been the targets of a half-dozen attacks in the past week.

In apparent retaliation, arsonists attempted to burn down Protestant churches in Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amersfoort, the police said.

The attacks have scratched the patina of tolerance on which the Dutch have long prided themselves, particularly here in their principal city, where the scent of hashish trails in the air, prostitutes beckon from storefront brothels and Hell's Angels live side by side with Hare Krishnas. But many Dutch now say that for years that tradition of tolerance suppressed an open debate about the challenges of integrating conservative Muslims.
Full Article:iht.com

So interesting the useful fictions Europeans indulge in. What about Royal Dutch Shell despoiling West Africa? Or the nasty legacy of the Dutch Afrikaaners? Progressive and tolerant societies for white Europeans, yes. I am not defending Islamic fundamentalists, but it is not possible to separate the realities of Europe today with its history. These 'liberal' states of Europe were built off the backs of millions of black Africans. In that light, 'enlightened immigration policies' just do not cut it.