New Dutch Muslim party might contest national poll

13 January 2005

AMSTERDAM — Preparations are underway to establish a new political party to represent Muslims in the Netherlands, it was reported on Thursday.

A group of Muslims in Amsterdam plan to launch the Muslim Democratic Party (MDP) in May and contest local elections in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, according to their spokesman Mohammed Jabri.

He told news agency ANP that the group was also looking at contesting the local election in a city in the province of North Brabant where a large number of Muslims live.

Depending on how well the party grows, Jabri said it might contest the next general election. But he also said the party was having some difficulty in
attracting people with the expertise to lead the party.

The establishment of the MDP comes after the controversial Arab European League (AEL) was founded, originally in Antwerp, Belgium, by Dyab Abou Jahjah to fight what he said was discrimination against Muslims and Arabs. It now has a branch in the Netherlands and has forged a link with the MDP.

But the MDP also wants to remain independent and is in discussions with well-known and less-well known Muslims to get the party off the ground in the big cities. Contact was also being sought with non-Muslims, Jabri said, "in order to get a balance within the party's management".

The announcement of the new party comes days after former Immigration and Integration Minister Hilbrand Nawijn said Muslims should assimilate rather than integrate into Dutch society.

He said that Muslim schools should be banned in the Netherlands, even though the Constitution enshrines the right to establish religious schools. His remarks were not met by a public outcry.

Following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam last November, there were a spate of tit-for-tat attacks against Muslim and Christian buildings. A Muslim school in Uden was burnt down and another Muslim school in Eindhoven was bombed.

Figures released late last year showed that the majority of attacks after the murder were targeted against Muslims.

Meanwhile, MDP spokesman Jabri is a writer and columnist for Elqalem.nl (www. Elqalem.nl), a website for Muslims in the Netherlands. The website's homepage features a cartoon of a person dropping a Jewish Star of David into a wastepaper basket.

A column on one page 'thanks' Muslim critics Ayaan Hirshi [sic] Ali, Van Gogh and Geert Wilders and people like them for helping in one go "to make young Muslims in the Netherlands more aware of their Islamic roots".

Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death apparently because of his movie "Submission", which accused the Koran of sanctioning violence against women.

MP Hirsi Ali, who collaborated on the film, and MP Wilders went into hiding after the murder following threats to their lives for criticising Islam. Wilders has returned to the public eye and Hirsi Ali is expected to attend Parliament again next week.

The article on the website finishes by noting: "Since 9/11 [September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon] one million Americans have become Muslims. God's ways are truly unfathomable."
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Wow. Holland...you really want to let that happen?

With all of the backlash from the Van Gogh killing I wouldnt have thought this would be possible. I dont live there so I dont know exactly what is going on, but durring that time all that was on the news were stories about how non-muslims from the area were reacting. They made it sound like people were trying to kick out all of the muslims or at the very least prevent more muslims from entering the country. Do they really still have the support needed to accomplish something like this?

With all of the backlash from the Van Gogh killing I wouldnt have thought this would be possible. I dont live there so I dont know exactly what is going on, but durring that time all that was on the news were stories about how non-muslims from the area were reacting. They made it sound like people were trying to kick out all of the muslims or at the very least prevent more muslims from entering the country. Do they really still have the support needed to accomplish something like this?

yes, I know. Especially after Van Gogh's death...I guess this party is financed with money from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia donates money for building Mosques in European Countries and I'm sure they have something to do with this too. But - what about Dutch politicians and the people?

Thats my point. Unless some of that money is being used in the form of bribes then the publics outcry should force the government to control this. While it would seem predjudice to say that since they are muslims they cannot have a political party or do this and that, it is at the publics disgression as to what should be allowed and what shouldnt. If the public demands that this sort of activity not be allowed then the government is going to be in a very difficult spot. It could also result in a dramatic rise in crimes against muslims and racial/religious tensions in that area. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the coming weeks.

While it would seem predjudice to say that since they are muslims they cannot have a political party or do this and that, it is at the publics disgression as to what should be allowed and what shouldnt.


hmm...

"Meanwhile, MDP spokesman Jabri is a writer and columnist for Elqalem.nl (www. Elqalem.nl), a website for Muslims in the Netherlands. The website's homepage features a cartoon of a person dropping a Jewish Star of David into a wastepaper basket."

I think, that alone would lead to a ban in Germany. That's why we have a Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the constitution forbids incitement of the people of every description.


If the public demands that this sort of activity not be allowed then the government is going to be in a very difficult spot. It could also result in a dramatic rise in crimes against muslims and racial/religious tensions in that area. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the coming weeks.

People fear foreign infiltration and I think it's clear that the dutch multicultural project has failed. I agree with you, there probably would be a dramatic rise in religious tensions unfortunately.

"Meanwhile, MDP spokesman Jabri is a writer and columnist for Elqalem.nl (www. Elqalem.nl), a website for Muslims in the Netherlands. The website's homepage features a cartoon of a person dropping a Jewish Star of David into a wastepaper basket."

I never said there wasnt good reason for wanting to sensor or expel people who would push this type of message. The problem that will arise is which muslims are of this thinking and which are just peaceful individuals simply wanting to express their faith. There will be a push to remove all muslims from the area, or to at least take some sort of action against them to prevent those who preach violence against the 'infedels' from spreading their message or gaining power. But is there a way to do this without persecuting all muslims? Or is this simply the kind of sacrafice that will have to be made to ensure that those who believe in hate are bannished?

. There will be a push to remove all muslims from the area, or to at least take some sort of action against them to prevent those who preach violence against the 'infedels' from spreading their message or gaining power. But is there a way to do this without persecuting all muslims? Or is this simply the kind of sacrafice that will have to be made to ensure that those who believe in hate are bannished?

Indeed a difficult question. I wonder why integration in Europe is so much harder than in the USA. I mean, there's definitely something wrong here. Many muslims are seperated from the rest of society, they live in parallel worlds whereas Russians, Poles etc usually don't have those problems. It's quite a complex issue.

I hope there is a way to take some sort of action against all those hate mongers without persecuting all muslims.

Here's a little article about the leader of AEL (Arab, European League) - the organization which has links to this new party:

AMSTERDAM — The leader of the Dutch-Belgian Arab European League (AEL) has come out in support of killing Dutch troops serving in Iraq.
"I consider every death of an American, British or Dutch soldier as a victory," Dyab Abou Jahjah said in an interview with Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws on Monday

Dyab Abou Jahjah is a strong opponent of assimilation, which he calls "cultural rape," and strongly exhorts European Muslims to retain all their traditions -- e.g., to bring Sharia to Europe.

I'm not sure I quite understand what this is about. This is a racist party, right? If it is it should be closed. What is there to do discuss?

By the way, I think that a Muslim party (one that's legal) is a very good idea especially now with all the tensions rising. From what I hear the Muslim side in Holland has been wronged too. It should have a voice.

Do I completely misunderstand?

No, you understand just fine. The greater issue is filter out the hate mongering muslims from the peaceful muslims without simply persicuting all of the muslims.

Then in that case I don't think there's a problem. If this party is closed down it will be because of racism, not because it is Muslim. Maybe if and when they do it they should stress that the call for a Muslim party is justified but that it needs to be legal.

Its so great how you make it sound all easy to do and stuff. Now if only the real world worked just like that. If the government steps in and kills this party, regardless of what reason it gives, they will catch hell from other muslims for it. Especially given the backlash against the muslim community that has taken place in the past few weeks.

Correct, TheDon, and this isn't the US. Although we are fairly socialistic, we also believe in freedom, and banning a political party is not something we do lightly, even when a party is anti-feministic (I am referring here to a Christian Party (SGP)) and clearly has ideals that are not commonly associated with democracy, we don't ban them. We just don't vote for them.

Most of the muslims vote for CDA (Christian democratic party a central party, neither left, neither right), and I doubt many will vote for this new muslim party simply because it shares their religion. After all, eventually, people will be voting on a face, or one-liners, not on the name of the party.

The Dutch are a neutral people. We are not an emotional people, who like money. We don't care about muslims forming a party, unless they start becoming a threat. Than the Dutch politicians will just act as if they are beneath contempt, and people will vote for CDA/VVD/PVDA(other dutch parties), as they have always have. Nothing ever changes. Ever.

Mr U

I don't know much about Dutch politics but I know that in Israel it's possible to disqualify a political party if its platform contains ideas that go against the ideal of Israel as a democratic Jewish state. In here it's probably more complicated since we don't even have an official constitution, but in most western countries it's probably much clearer what ideas aren't acceptable - I know that in Germany and Italy there's all kind of bans to do with Nazism and Fascism, and common sense says Holland might have some against blatant racism.

I'm not sure if what we're discussing is what should be done or what likely will be done, but all I got to say is that if this is party is racist (I don't feel I have enough details on it to determine it myself) then it should be disqualified, regardless of how the Muslims will respond. There aren't many things more dangerous than racists in power.