Early in the twenty-first century, Westerners debated a series of intertwined issues springing from conditions created by the new globalized world. The issue of immigration and the accommodation of peoples from outside the West was one of them. The Netherlands was one of the European countries that began debating whether globalization hadn’t gone too far in this direction. The debate came to the fore in the Netherlands after an animal rights activist in 2002 assassinated Pim Fortuyn, a candidate for prime minister who ran on a popular anti-immigrant platform and proclaimed, “Holland is full.” When, in 2004, a Muslim radical assassinated filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who took special pride in insulting Islam, the Dutch debate over globalization fixated on the presence of foreigners, especially Muslims, in the Netherlands and the admission of Turkey to the European Union.
1. The View from Everyday Life
Leon was a Rotterdam window cleaner who did not want his last name revealed. Here is his opinion of the main problem of Dutch life brought about by globalization.
There are too many people coming here who don’t want to work. Before long there will be more foreigners than Dutch people, and Dutch people won’t be the boss of their own country. That’s why this has to be stopped.
Source: Jennifer Ehrlich, “Liberal Netherlands Grows Less So on Immigration,” Christian Science Monitor, December 19, 2003.
2. Too Much Islamic Architecture
Many immigrants and their descendants, all of whom could become Dutch citizens, often lived in cities where there was economic opportunity. Although mosques existed in many cities, most were tucked away in obscure and shabby parts of town near the ghettos where many Muslim immigrant families lived. When the Muslim community in Rotterdam proposed building a stately mosque with 164-foot minarets, many in Rotterdam opposed the project. Ronald Sorenson, a member of Rotterdam’s city council, objected in particular to the design of the proposed mosque and its cultural connotations.
There’s no reason the minarets have to be that high—it will not be Rotterdam; it will be Mecca on the Maas [River].
Source: Jennifer Ehrlich, “Liberal Netherlands Grows Less So on Immigration,” Christian Science Monitor, December 19, 2003.
3. Opposing Immigration and Turkey’s Membership in the European Union
Acceptance of new members has made the EU the largest economic power in the world. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, some Europeans looked to the integration of Turkey into the EU as further expansion of EU influence. Others, however, opposed it, as the issue of EU enlargement had implications for immigration. Geert Wilders, member of Dutch parliament, voiced his opposition. In 2010, he was put on trial for inciting hatred against Muslims.
Turkey is an Islamic country and as such doesn’t belong in the EU. The flow [of Turks] is already too big. . . . There is a big problem with the integration of immigrants already in Holland. They top the list in terms of criminality, unemployment, welfare payments, domestic violence. . . . Let us concentrate on solving the problems with the immigrants already here properly.
Source: Expatica, October 5, 2004.
4. A Student’s Thoughts on Muslims in the Netherlands
Loubna el Morabet, a PhD candidate in social science at Leiden University, gave this reaction to Geert Wilders’s pronouncements on Muslims and to the media’s coverage of him and his political party.
This is an ongoing process. Muslims in the Netherlands are already very Dutch. I have done research in the Netherlands and England and learnt that Muslim students here have adopted the Dutch mentality. This is their country.
Of course I feel threatened when I hear Wilders speaking. But if I take a step back, I realize he will never be able to carry out his ideas. Taxing headscarves is nonsense and halting immigration from Islamic countries is discrimination. The principle of equality is deeply embedded in Dutch law.
I think it is ridiculous that media pay so much attention to a party that has garnered a handful of seats in the municipal elections. [Left-wing liberal party] D66 was the real winner of the local elections and that happens to be the one party that tells Wilders: “You are shutting people out, you discriminate.” That gets relatively little attention.
Source: “Muslims Quietly Take Wilders’ Abuse,” Radio Netherlands Worldwide, March 25, 2010.
5. An Evaluation of Dutch Values
Popular Amsterdam actress Funda Müjde admitted to being called a “filthy Turk” during the debates over immigration and ethnic violence in the city.1 In her online stage performances and journalism, she gave sharp-witted responses to the anti-immigration furor around her.
“Do aliens actually love Holland?” This question woke me up with a start. After work (a workshop at the Employment Office) I traveled back [home from the job] with a colleague because he needed to be in Amsterdam. We have been working together for a while now and I notice that our conversations are always about something substantial.
Now it seemed as if he was even bolder in asking all kinds of questions.
Hurray! Do we aliens (read: mainly the first-generation Moroccans and Turks) really love Holland? Immediately I want to answer this question with another question. “Does Holland really love aliens?” Just in time, I bite my tongue.
Source: Funda Müjde Web site, http:/
6. Encouragement for Religious Tolerance in the EU
On July 21, 2004, Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende gave a speech before the European Parliament that called on Europeans to reconsider their position on immigration.
We must not allow ourselves to be guided by fear, for example, of Islam. The raising of barriers to any particular religion is not consistent with Europe’s shared values. Our opposition should be directed not against religions, but against people and groups misusing their religion to get their way by force. Islam is not the problem.
Source: European Stability Initiative, “Speech by the President, Jan Peter Balkenende, to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg on 21 July 2004,” http:/
Questions to Consider