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| Europe |
| Dutch integration minister challenges Wilders |
| 2009-06-17 |
| Integration minister Eberhard van der Laan has sought direct confrontation with anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders for the third time in a week, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday. After parliamentary questions on Tuesday, Van der Laan again criticised Wilders' statement on Danish tv that 'millions, tens of millions' of Muslims who commit a crime or 'start thinking about jihad or sharia' should be stripped of their Dutch nationality and deported. Wilders' claim that there are 50 million Muslims in Europe is wrong, because he is also including Muslims in Russia - which stretches to Japan, the minister said. In total, Europe has 20 million Muslims, the minister said. The paper points out that the two men have have never crossed in parliament. But Wilders used to regularly attack Van der Laan's predecessor and fellow Labour party member Ella Vogelaar, and famously called her 'totally bonkers'. Labour party stalwarts told the AD they were pleased Van der Laan had 'finally' started attacking Wilders. 'I support his more radical approach,' said Rotterdam Labour councillor Dominic Schrijer. 'That moaning about Muslims and the Koran has to stop. It [the debate] should be about the real problems in the locality.' But Tilburg University political scientist Marcel Boogers said he did not think Van der Laan's approach would have much affect on voters. 'He is trying to show that Wilders got the number of Muslims wrong, but I don't think most people care. You have to offer them perspective.' Here's hoping that Europe remains a region where babies still get names like Marcel Boogers. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 Islam in Russia In the 1980s, Islam was the second most widespread religion in the Soviet Union; in that period, the number of Soviet citizens identifying themselves as Muslims generally totaled between 45 and 50 million. The majority of the Muslims resided in the Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union, which now are independent countries. In 1996 the Muslim population of Russia was estimated at 19 percent of all citizens professing belief in a religion. Major Islamic communities are concentrated among the minority nationalities residing between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea: the Adyghs, Balkars, Bashkirs, Chechens, Cherkess, Ingush, Kabardins, Karachay, and numerous Dagestani nationalities. In the middle Volga Basin are large populations of Tatars, Udmurts, and Chuvash, most of whom are Muslims. Many Muslims also reside in Ul'yanovsk, Samara, Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow, Perm', and Leningrad oblasts. Notice that all those locations are west of the Urals (European Russia). |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-17 15:19 |
| #3 Still, he's been called out - needs to respond |
| Posted by: Betty Snising6729 2009-06-17 14:54 |
| #2 The paper points out that the two men have have never crossed in parliament. Geert doesn't have confront van der Laan , van der Laan is making an ass of himself all by himself. |
| Posted by: tipper 2009-06-17 14:42 |
| #1 Muslim European Population in 2008, 51.46 million. European Muslim Population |
| Posted by: tipper 2009-06-17 14:36 |