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| Europe |
| Dutch Muslim community decries 'extremism' |
| 2004-11-09 |
| Holland's Muslim community has rallied to condemn 'extremism' and call for unity after an outspoken filmmaker was killed by a suspected Dutch Muslim. A 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan has been charged with last week's murder of Theo van Gogh, whose criticism of Islam angered Muslims. Van Gogh is due to be cremated later on Tuesday in a ceremony to be broadcast live on television. Hundreds of people have laid flowers, candles and notes at the spot where Van Gogh was killed. They also left cactuses, a tribute to the filmmaker's prickly nature, and bottles of beer. Dozens of people circled the site on Tuesday. About 60 young Dutch Muslims wearing orange T-shirts reading "We won't put up with extremism any more" cycled through Amsterdam stopping at mosques to protest against the murder. They then joined a Dutch-Moroccan rally of several hundred in a park near the street where Van Gogh was killed. "Muslims in Amsterdam are very worried and afraid but we want to say that we are part of the community and we are not going to tolerate or accept this," said Samira Abbos, a 34-year-old Dutch-Moroccan television presenter. A wave of arson attacks has targeted at least eight mosques since the killing and a Muslim school in Eindhoven was badly damaged in a small bomb blast on Monday. Police said they suspected the school attack was in retaliation for the murder. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 CAIR will protest Nah, this is a Dutch thing. No need for them to get embroiled in some overseas brouhaha - they gots enough trouble at home. :) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-11-09 9:07:59 PM |
| #8 CAIR will protest |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-09 8:12:43 PM |
| #7 Did the bike riders at least have a stilt walker? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-09 7:52:40 PM |
| #6 too little too late , once the far right dutch start moving anything can and will happen |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-09 6:58:20 PM |
| #5 My advice: squeal on fellow Muslims -- sell out -- or get persecuted. That's all there is to it. And I meant that seriously. |
| Posted by: Omolunter Pheart8442 2004-11-09 6:29:33 PM |
| #4 I'll believe they mean it when we see a raft of arrests of islamic terroristsw and criminal that have been turned in by fellow muslims. I would not hold my breath. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-11-09 6:07:58 PM |
| #3 It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but I suspect the Muslim leadership realized that they lacked sufficient numbers, resources, and leverage (for the moment) to win this battle. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2004-11-09 5:06:05 PM |
| #2 Very good to see this sort of thing, but the protests and displays or rejection have to be accompanied by actions. Muslims have to show the same willingness to cooperate with the Dutch authorities as is expected from the rest of the society. If your neighbours are up to no good, it doesn't matter whether they're the same faith or ethnicity as you - report them. If there are bad apples in the basket with you, push them out. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-11-09 4:49:54 PM |
| #1 Hmmm, they can manage to pull together muslims against this and our muslim communities can't. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2004-11-09 4:41:22 PM |