In the Aftermath of the Van Gogh Assassination: The Future of Islam in the Netherlands
On ICT – Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism an article of one of my VU co-workers Jeffrey Schwerzel. He cultural anthropologist at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. He is currently working on his PhD thesis.
The assassination of filmmaker Theo van Gogh rocked Dutch society and politics. In the aftermath of the murder, the government has set about a process of fundamentally changing its policies towards Islam, Muslims, and integration. These issues have become issues of national security. Vice Prime Minister Zalm stated that �We will wage war against extremism.�[1] The impact of the new policies will be immense. Other countries in Europe are closely watching the Netherlands, and will likely follow suit with similar policy changes.
The preoccupation with security may skew the resulting policies in ways that may further antagonize groups in Dutch society. For example, the new legislation proposed will only be applied to Muslim extremists and this will confirm to some Muslims that these policies are targeted against them as a group. The processes the government has set in motion are not as predictable as the government may wish; integration can be stimulated but not enforced. The combined effect of the government�s policies may thus serve to speed up the rapid and unpredictable social changes in Dutch society, rather than calm tensions down. Further upheaval awaits us.
