[Theo van Gogh and] "Education By Murder" in Holland
- Информация о материале
- Автор: Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
November 16, 2004
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2218
http://www.nysun.com/article/4878
"Education by murder" describes the slow and painful way people wake
up to the problem of radical Islam. It took 3,000 deaths to wake up Americans,
or at least to wake up the half of them who are conservative. Likewise,
it took hundreds of deaths in the Bali explosion to semi-wake up Australians;
it took the Madrid assault for Spaniards, and the Beslan atrocity for Russians.
Twelve workers beheaded in Iraq awoke the Nepalese.
But it took just one death to wake up many Dutch. Indeed, one gruesome
killing may have done more to arouse the Netherlands than September 11,
2001, did for Americans.
The reason for this lies in the identity of the victim and the nature
of the crime. He was Theo van Gogh, 47, a well-known radical libertarian,
a filmmaker, television producer, talk show host, newspaper columnist,
and all-around mischief-maker who enjoyed the distinction of being a relative
of one of Holland's most renowned artists, Vincent van Gogh. In recent
years, Theo garnered attention by critiquing Islam (in a 2003 book Allah
Knows Best and a 2004 film Submission).
He was murdered at 8:40 a.m. on November 2 in his hometown of Amsterdam
while bicycling down a busy street to work. In the course of being shot
repeatedly, Van Gogh beseeched his killer, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Have
mercy. Have mercy!" Then the killer stabbed his chest with one knife and
slit his throat with another, nearly decapitating van Gogh.
The presumed murderer, Mohammed Bouyeri, 26, a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch
citizen, left a five-page note in both Arabic and Dutch attached to Van
Gogh's body with a knife. In it he threatened jihad against the West in
general, ("I surely know that you, Oh Europe, will be destroyed"), and
specifically against five prominent Dutch political figures.
Police investigators quickly realized that the assassin was an Islamist
whom they knew well and had been following until just two weeks earlier;
they also placed him in the "Hofstadgroep" network and charged him and
six of his associates with "conspiracy with a terrorist intent." The authorities
additionally asserted that these had possible connections to the Takfir
wa'l-Hijra and Al Qaeda terrorist groups.
That a non-Muslim critic of Islam was ritually murdered for artistically
expressing his views was something without precedent, not just in Holland
but anywhere in the West. Dutch revulsion at the deed shook the deep complacency
of what is perhaps the world's most tolerant society. The immigration minister,
Rita Verdonk, one of the five persons threatened, publicly rued the country's
having long ignored the presence of radical Islam. "For too long we have
said we had a multicultural society and everyone would simply find each
other. We were too na?ve in thinking people would exist in society together."
Jozias van Aartsen, parliamentary leader of the VVD party, went further,
warning that "jihad has come to the Netherlands and a small group of jihadist
terrorists is attacking the principles of our country. These people don't
want to change our society, they want to destroy it."
One day after the murder, 20,000 demonstrators gathered to denounce
the killing, and 30 people were arrested for inciting hatred against Muslims.
The interior minister, Johan Remkes, announced that he could not rule out
unrest. "The climate is seriously hardened." Proving him right, the next
two weeks saw more than 20 arson and bombing attacks and counterattacks
on mosques, churches, and other institutions, plus some major police raids,
giving the country the feel of a small-scale civil war.
Dutch attitudes toward Muslims immediately and dramatically hardened..
A poll found 40% of the population wanting the nearly million-strong Muslim
community no longer to feel at home in the Netherlands. Double that number
endorsed more stringent policies toward immigrants.
De Telegraaf, a leading paper, published an editorial unimaginable
before the van Gogh murder calling for "a very public crackdown on extremist
Muslim fanatics." Even left-wing politicians woke up to the need to speak
"harsh truths" about immigration, focusing on the disproportionate criminality
of Muslims.
Islamist terrorism in the West is counterproductive because it awakens
the sleeping masses; in brief, jihad provokes crusade. A more cunning Islamist
enemy would advance its totalitarian agenda through Mafia-like intimidation,
not brazen murders.
But if Islamists do continue with overt terrorism, the tough Dutch
response will everywhere be replicated.
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Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a