C L O S E R

Egyptian police arrest foreigners for allegedly plotting attacks – Africa, World – The Independent

Posted on December 6th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Egyptian police arrest foreigners for allegedly plotting attacks – Africa, World – The Independent

By Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press Writer
Egyptian police have arrested an American, 11 Europeans and several others from Arab countries for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in Middle Eastern countries including Iraq, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.The group allegedly was part of an Islamic militant terror cell that had adopted extremist ideas and were living in Egypt under the disguise of studying Arabic and Islamic studies, the ministry said in a written statement.

Along with the American, police arrested two Belgians, nine French and several others from Egypt and other Arab countries including Tunisia and Syria, the statement said. The ministry did not provide names or say how many Egyptians and Arabs were arrested.

“Investigations have confirmed that those elements are related to some terrorist organizations abroad,” the ministry said. “They were seeking to recruit others, teach them destructive beliefs, urging them for jihad, traveling to Iraq to carry out operations via other countries in the region.”

The US Embassy in Cairo declined to comment about the arrests.

In Brussels, a government official confirmed that the men were Belgian citizens of Moroccan origin. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

“It seems they had sympathies with fundamentalist, Islamist circles,” the official said. “There is no evidence that they perpetrated any violent act, and we expect them to be expelled from Egypt soon.”

A spokesman for France’s Foreign Ministry also confirmed that several French citizens had been arrested in Egypt but said he could not immediately provide further details.

They were arrested about a week ago, and some had been studying at Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s most important seat of learning, police officials said. They spoke on condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. It was not immediately clear if all the arrests took place in Cairo or elsewhere in Egypt.

All of the arrested were in jail pending further investigation, the ministry said.

Egypt witnessed a string of suicide terror attacks in recent years at Sinai Peninsula tourist resorts.

Last week, an Egyptian state security court condemned to death three Islamic militants convicted of taking part in suicide attacks that killed 34 people in 2004 on the Sinai resort of town of Taba.

The three belonged to the militant group “Tawhid and Jihad,” which Egyptian security officials and prosecutors accuse of carrying out two other bombings against Sinai resorts that killed another 87 people – Sharm el-Sheik in July 2005 and Dahab in April.

In February, three British Muslims were released from an Egyptian prison after spending nearly three years in custody for allegedly belonging to a banned Islamic group. The three accused Egyptian authorities of torturing them during their captivity, but the government denied the allegations.

Egypt operates under emergency laws, which gives the government wide powers to detain suspects without charging them. The laws have been in place since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981 despite a growing chorus of opposition from both inside and outside the country.

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Protected: Romuald Karmakar over Hamburger Lektionen – de Filmkrant net-versie van december 2006, nr 283

Posted on December 2nd, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism.

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Protected: 'Piranha' Terrorism Trial: Samir A.: 8 years

Posted on December 1st, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Protected: ‘Piranha’ Terrorism Trial: Samir A.: 8 years

Posted on December 1st, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Telegraph | News | Town that breeds suicide bombers

Posted on November 25th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Morocco, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Telegraph | News | Town that breeds suicide bombers

By Fiona Govan
Their destination may be almost 3,000 miles away, but the draw of martyrdom in Iraq is proving irresistable for the young men of Tetouan.

American intelligence officials believe that the Moroccan town, less than 30 miles from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, has become one of the world’s most fertile recruiting ground for jihadists.

In the last eight months a group of young men, all worshippers at the same mosque, have left their homes to become suicide bombers in Iraq.

After DNA tests on their bodies, and Moroccan authorities asking families to provide samples, US intelligence traced at least nine of those responsible for recent suicide missions in and around Baghdad to Tetouan and its surrounding area in the foothills of the Rif Mountains.

Local reports suggest that another 21 individuals have left the area to seek martyrdom, following in the footsteps of five other Tetouanis who blew themselves up in a Madrid suburb when cornered by police, who believed they played a part in the train bombings in the Spanish capital in March 2004.

The families of the young men, all in their twenties, tell the same stories – of sons, brothers, husbands who became disillusioned with the daily struggle to earn. (more…)

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Telegraph | News | Town that breeds suicide bombers

Posted on November 25th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Morocco, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Telegraph | News | Town that breeds suicide bombers

By Fiona Govan
Their destination may be almost 3,000 miles away, but the draw of martyrdom in Iraq is proving irresistable for the young men of Tetouan.

American intelligence officials believe that the Moroccan town, less than 30 miles from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, has become one of the world’s most fertile recruiting ground for jihadists.

In the last eight months a group of young men, all worshippers at the same mosque, have left their homes to become suicide bombers in Iraq.

After DNA tests on their bodies, and Moroccan authorities asking families to provide samples, US intelligence traced at least nine of those responsible for recent suicide missions in and around Baghdad to Tetouan and its surrounding area in the foothills of the Rif Mountains.

Local reports suggest that another 21 individuals have left the area to seek martyrdom, following in the footsteps of five other Tetouanis who blew themselves up in a Madrid suburb when cornered by police, who believed they played a part in the train bombings in the Spanish capital in March 2004.

The families of the young men, all in their twenties, tell the same stories – of sons, brothers, husbands who became disillusioned with the daily struggle to earn. (more…)

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Individualisme & Hoop

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

In Volkskrant kunnen we lezen dat Hirsi Ali Soumaya S. als de hoop voor Nederland ziet.

AMSTERDAM – Ayaan Hirsi Ali noemt Piranhaverdachte Soumaya S., tegen wie tien jaar gevangenisstraf is geëist, ‘de hoop voor de toekomst’ in de strijd tegen radicalisering. Door het ‘verraad van haar leermeester’, de Haagse imam Fawaz, zijn haar de ogen geopend.
* Boodschap Hirsi Ali

Dit stelde Hirsi Ali vrijdagavond in een audioboodschap bij de presentatie van het boek Strijdsters van Allah. Hirsi Ali herkent veel van zichzelf in Soumaya. Ook zij is in de ban geweest van een radicale prediker als Fawaz. Ze zegt dat zelfstandig nadenkende Hofstadjongeren, niet bereid predikers als Fawaz zonder meer te volgen, naar de bron zelf gaan, naar de Koran.Die jongeren ‘zien dat het er echt staat; dat gebruik van geweld is toegestaan om beledigers van de islam de mond te snoeren. Dat het bij jihad niet alleen gaat om innerlijke strijd om jezelf te verbeteren, maar ook om gewelddadige strijd’. Volgens Hirsi Ali brengen moslims die beweren dat islam slechts vrede betekent, dergelijke gewetensvolle jongeren alleen maar in verwarring.

Het geweten van zelfstandig nadenkende jongeren zal eerder dan dat van ‘geïndoctrineerde meelopers’ gaan botsen met ‘de bevelen uit de Koran’, zegt ze. Daarom wil ze de strijd tegen radicalisering vooral uitvechten in de ‘ideologische arena’. Ze pleit voor een open debat. ‘Zonder taboes of kunstmatige scheiding tussen vreedzame en gewelddadige islam.’

Volgens mij staan hier twee belangrijke denkfouten in. Allereerst dat het geweten van zelfstandig denkende jongeren zou botsen met ‘de bevelen uit de Koran’. Een dergelijke houding ten opzichte van jongeren die op een individualistische wijze de islam beleven zien we vaker. Het zou best kunnen dat dit klopt, maar mijn punt is vooral dat dit geen automatisme is. Autonomie en individualisme zijn geen garantie voor een tolerante en vredelievende interpretatie van de Islam. Autonomie en individualisme betekent dat jongeren de teksten gaan interpreteren op eigen houtje en die koppelen aan hun andere opvattingen, bijvoorbeeld politieke opvattingen. Dit kan leiden tot een vorm van liberalisering, maar net zo goed tot radicalisering.

Het tweede punt is de wijze waarop men omgaat met de Koran. Hoewel je in radicale teksten zeker verwijzingen kunt terugvinden naar de Koran, wordt veel meer gebruik gemaakt van teksten van religieuze geleerden en lekenpredikers. De Koran neemt daarin niet de centrale plek in. Wel politieke ‘analyses’ en interpretaties van die andere geleerden.  Voor de interpretatie van Bin Laden met betrekking tot Jihad, neemt men niet de toevlucht tot de Koran of de traditionele conservatieve geleerden. Bin Laden’s Jihad doctrine is niet meer en niet minder dan een volledige nieuwe interpretatie (Bernard Lewis ziet het zelfs als travestie) van de traditie van de gewelddadige jihad. De reden dat er jongeren zijn die dat volgen, lijkt meer te maken te hebben met hun interpretatie van de lokale en mondiale politieke en sociaal-economische omgeving, dan met de Koran op zich.

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Individualisme & Hoop

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

In Volkskrant kunnen we lezen dat Hirsi Ali Soumaya S. als de hoop voor Nederland ziet.

AMSTERDAM – Ayaan Hirsi Ali noemt Piranhaverdachte Soumaya S., tegen wie tien jaar gevangenisstraf is geëist, ‘de hoop voor de toekomst’ in de strijd tegen radicalisering. Door het ‘verraad van haar leermeester’, de Haagse imam Fawaz, zijn haar de ogen geopend.
* Boodschap Hirsi Ali

Dit stelde Hirsi Ali vrijdagavond in een audioboodschap bij de presentatie van het boek Strijdsters van Allah. Hirsi Ali herkent veel van zichzelf in Soumaya. Ook zij is in de ban geweest van een radicale prediker als Fawaz. Ze zegt dat zelfstandig nadenkende Hofstadjongeren, niet bereid predikers als Fawaz zonder meer te volgen, naar de bron zelf gaan, naar de Koran.Die jongeren ‘zien dat het er echt staat; dat gebruik van geweld is toegestaan om beledigers van de islam de mond te snoeren. Dat het bij jihad niet alleen gaat om innerlijke strijd om jezelf te verbeteren, maar ook om gewelddadige strijd’. Volgens Hirsi Ali brengen moslims die beweren dat islam slechts vrede betekent, dergelijke gewetensvolle jongeren alleen maar in verwarring.

Het geweten van zelfstandig nadenkende jongeren zal eerder dan dat van ‘geïndoctrineerde meelopers’ gaan botsen met ‘de bevelen uit de Koran’, zegt ze. Daarom wil ze de strijd tegen radicalisering vooral uitvechten in de ‘ideologische arena’. Ze pleit voor een open debat. ‘Zonder taboes of kunstmatige scheiding tussen vreedzame en gewelddadige islam.’

Volgens mij staan hier twee belangrijke denkfouten in. Allereerst dat het geweten van zelfstandig denkende jongeren zou botsen met ‘de bevelen uit de Koran’. Een dergelijke houding ten opzichte van jongeren die op een individualistische wijze de islam beleven zien we vaker. Het zou best kunnen dat dit klopt, maar mijn punt is vooral dat dit geen automatisme is. Autonomie en individualisme zijn geen garantie voor een tolerante en vredelievende interpretatie van de Islam. Autonomie en individualisme betekent dat jongeren de teksten gaan interpreteren op eigen houtje en die koppelen aan hun andere opvattingen, bijvoorbeeld politieke opvattingen. Dit kan leiden tot een vorm van liberalisering, maar net zo goed tot radicalisering.

Het tweede punt is de wijze waarop men omgaat met de Koran. Hoewel je in radicale teksten zeker verwijzingen kunt terugvinden naar de Koran, wordt veel meer gebruik gemaakt van teksten van religieuze geleerden en lekenpredikers. De Koran neemt daarin niet de centrale plek in. Wel politieke ‘analyses’ en interpretaties van die andere geleerden.  Voor de interpretatie van Bin Laden met betrekking tot Jihad, neemt men niet de toevlucht tot de Koran of de traditionele conservatieve geleerden. Bin Laden’s Jihad doctrine is niet meer en niet minder dan een volledige nieuwe interpretatie (Bernard Lewis ziet het zelfs als travestie) van de traditie van de gewelddadige jihad. De reden dat er jongeren zijn die dat volgen, lijkt meer te maken te hebben met hun interpretatie van de lokale en mondiale politieke en sociaal-economische omgeving, dan met de Koran op zich.

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Combating Terrorism Center: The Militant Ideology Atlas

Posted on November 17th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Combating Terrorism Center
The Militant Ideology Atlas

Editor & Project Director, Dr. William McCants
Project Coordinator, Dr. Jarret Brachman

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has announced the release of The Militant Ideology Atlas, an in-depth study of the Jihadi Movement’s top thinkers and their most popular writings. This is the first systematic mapping of the ideology inspiring al-Qaeda.The CTC’s researchers spent one year mining the most popular books and articles in al-Qaeda’s online library, profiling hundreds of figures in the Jihadi Movement, and cataloging over 11,000 citations. The empirically supported findings of the project are surprising:

* The most influential Jihadi intellectuals are clerics from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, two of the US’s closest allies in the Middle East.
* Among them, the Jordanian cleric Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi has had the most impact on other Jihadi thinkers and has been the most consequential in shaping the worldview of the Jihadi Movement.
* In contrast, the study finds that Usama Bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri have had little influence on other Jihadi theorists and strategists.

The Executive Report summarizes the main conclusions of this comprehensive effort and provides policy-relevant recommendations informed by these findings. The Research Compendium contains summaries of all the texts used in the study as well as biographies of the texts’ authors and the figures they cite most.

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Khaleej Times Online – Six terrorism suspects arrested in the Netherlands

Posted on November 7th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Khaleej Times Online – Six terrorism suspects arrested in the Netherlands
Six terrorism suspects arrested in the Netherlands
(AFP)

7 November 2006

THE HAGUE – Six people have been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of recruiting volunteers for jihad, or Islamic holy war, prosecutors said on Tuesday after a year-long investigation.

The suspects, five men and a woman, were arrested in The Hague and Amsterdam late Monday and early Tuesday as part of a probe into an international Islamic terror network launched in November 2005, the prosecutor’s office said.

Among the suspects, who were not identified by name, are two Dutch nationals of Moroccan origin, a Turkish man, a Tunisian national, a Moroccan and a sixth with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said.

The six were suspected of ‘recruiting radical Muslims for the international jihad’, a crime under recently amended Dutch laws.

Police were still investigating whether the suspects could also be charged with forming a terrorist organisation, the prosecutor’s office said.

De Bruin added that the Turkish suspect in this case had been acquitted in 2003 after going on trial on suspicion of recruiting for jihad.

At the time, recruiting for jihad was not a crime and the 12 suspects in the 2003 case were charged with the rarely used ‘aiding of the enemy’.

That charge was thrown out by the judges who said the Netherlands were not at war with Afghanistan’s Taleban regime as prosecutors argued.

In 2004 the laws changed in the Netherlands making recruitment for jihad a crime in itself, punishable by a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

The office of the national prosecutor said the current investigation began in November 2005 after police received information about three men from The Hague who had travelled to Azerbaijan to take part in jihad. They were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities in Baku and sent back to the Netherlands.

‘The three youths were suspected of being in contact with a network of extremist Muslims that was recruiting young men for the jihad,’ prosecutors said.

Investigators discovered that potential jihadists were being recruited with inflammatory speeches, pamphlets and videos focusing on the supposed duty of all Muslims to take part in holy war.

Several suspects have also tried to get fake travel documents to travel to Iraq.

The suspects were expected to appear before a judge later this week, who will then rule if they can be remanded in custody.

Prosecution spokesman De Bruin said that the six suspects were not linked to the Hofstad group, a terrorist network led by Mohammed Bouyeri who was convicted for the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, or the six other terrorism suspects on trial in Amsterdam who also have links to Bouyeri.

In recent years there have been several high profile acquittals in Dutch terrorism trials because judges are reluctant to convict suspects for plotting attacks without evidence that they were making clear steps towards carrying them out.

A round up of Dutch and English sources I have (in particular about the Turkish suspect Murat Ö aka Abu Jarrah aka Abu Zer aka Ibrahim the Turk and the so called Eik (Oak) case of 2002/2003):
(more…)

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Protected: nrc.nl – Binnenland – Linker dan Mohammed B.

Posted on November 6th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization.

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Press Gazette – Ex-Reuters editor studies effect of jihadi propaganda

Posted on November 5th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Press Gazette -  Ex-Reuters editor studies effect of jihadi propaganda

By Zoe Smith
Thursday, 2 November 2006

In Jihad TV, a documentary to be broadcast on Channel 4 next week, Eedle investigates the jihadi propaganda machine and its impact on young Arabs and young British Muslims.

He told Press Gazette: “It is vitally important that people in Britain and America understand the motives and strategies of the people they are fighting, whether it’s Al Qaeda globally led by Osama bin Laden or the different insurgent groups in Iraq.”

(more…)

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| podium – Radicale islam / Oorlog tegen het terrorisme werkt averechts (Podium)

Posted on November 4th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

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Protected: Trouw, deVerdieping| podium – Radicale islam / Oorlog tegen het terrorisme werkt averechts (Podium)

Posted on November 4th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

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de Volkskrant – Binnenland – ‘Na één woord Arabisch: straf’

Posted on October 25th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

de Volkskrant – Binnenland – ‘Na één woord Arabisch: straf’
‘Na één woord Arabisch: straf’

Achtergrond Van onze verslaggeefsters Janny Groen, Annieke Kranenberg

AMSTERDAM – De Hofstadveroordeelden kunnen het strenge gevangenisregime in Vught niet meer aan. Samir A. wist een brief aan de Volkskrant naar buiten te smokkelen om de wereld daarover te vertellen.

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Jamestown.org – Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen

Posted on October 22nd, 2006 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen
Jihadis Provide Internet Training for Female Mujahideen

By Abdul Hameed Bakier
The use of female suicide bombers by Islamist militant groups in countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir has exceeded the traditional constraints that Salafi-Jihadi ideology imposes on women. Observers of jihadi cyber activities have noticed an increase in the number of websites dedicated to mujahidat (female mujahideen), linked either directly or ideologically to al-Qaeda. The physical and spiritual preparation of the mujahidat has recently spread to many jihadi websites. (more…)

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Magharebia.com – Co-producer of “Ramadan Primetime” discusses anti-terrorist television shows during Ramadan (Magharebia.com)

Posted on October 18th, 2006 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Co-producer of “Ramadan Primetime” discusses anti-terrorist television shows during Ramadan (Magharebia.com)
Co-producer of “Ramadan Primetime” discusses anti-terrorist television shows during Ramadan

13/10/2006

Souheila Al-Jadda, a journalist and producer, talks to Magharebia about Ramadan programming, specifically the emergence of anti-terrorism serials, explaining their role in promoting peace and tolerance.

By Farah Kinani for Magharebia in Washington – 13/10/06

[File] Al-Jadda says Ramadan television series can promote peace and tolerance.

Souheila Al-Jadda co-produced “Ramadan Primetime”, a 30-minute documentary about specially-crafted Ramadan primetime programming shown on dozens of Arabic television channels.

Magharebia: Why is Ramadan starting to be related to anti-terror serials?

Souheila Al-Jadda: I believe that many Arab governments are realising they need to take a more proactive role in warning the public about terrorism. Part of their interest is security-related and another part is about public awareness. These serials reflect reality. Screenwriters are also interested in touching upon the social, political and international issues of today that affect Arabs. There is a desire by governments to fund such programmes, as many are state-funded, and there is also a desire by the media itself to touch upon these issues, which are part of Arab society. (more…)

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Expatica – No trace of Samir A. terror suspects on seized guns

Posted on October 16th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Expatica -  No trace of Samir A. terror suspects on seized guns

13 October 2006

AMSTERDAM — In a last-minute blow to the prosecution’s case, forensics tests have failed to find any incriminating evidence on the weapons that allegedly belonged to the suspected terror network of Samir A.

One of A.’s lawyers made the claim and a spokesman for the public prosecution office (OM) confirmed the statement on Friday.

Police found the guns last month in a communal cellar of several apartment homes in The Hague.

Soumaya S. — the 23-year-old wife of one of the convicted members of the Hofstadgroep, Nouriddin el F. — was living in the apartment building.

The public prosecution suspects the guns belonged to the alleged terror network of Samir A.

A. — who has twice been acquitted on terrorism charges — will appear in court again on Monday on charges relating to the Piranha investigation. (more…)

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De boodschap van Samir A.

Posted on September 15th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, My Research, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Nova had gisteren dus fragmenten van de video van Samir. Ik ben op het moment aan het werken aan een publicatie over de spirituele en politieke boodschap van de Nederlanse jihadi’s (en voormalige jihadi’s). Het duurt nog wel even voordat deze gepubliceerd wordt (pas na mijn proefschrift en dat duurt ook nog wel enkele maanden). Het gaat er daarbij om om uit te gaan van wat zij zelf zeggen. Niet om alles maar klakkeloos over te nemen, maar wel om recht te doen aan het uitgangspunt dat het hier om zelfstandige individuen gaat die zelf beslissingen nemen, doelen in het leven hebben, hun eigen wensen en verlangens, politieke en spirituele behoeften. Op basis daarvan binnen de gegeven economische, juridische, sociale en politieke omstandigheden maken zij hun keuzes met betrekking tot datgene wat zij zien als de zuivere islam. (more…)

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Have a closer look…

Posted on September 14th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Een kijktip voor vanavond: NOVA met fragment(en) van Samir A. videoboodschap.

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RTL Boulevard: verslaafd aan New York

Posted on September 11th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism.

Het enige Nederlandse slachtoffer van 9/11 is Ingeborg Lariby. Zij schreef een Essay: verslaafd aan New York dat te lezen is op de site van RTL Boulevard
verslaafd aan New York

Door Ingeborg Lariby Maart 2001

Europese vrienden
“Wat is dat toch met New York?”, vragen m’n Europese vrienden altijd. Waarom accepteer je de onbeleefdheid, het gedrang, de woningen van het formaat van een schoenendoos en de belachelijk hoge huren? Ik zou toch net als normale mensen gewoon in een klein stadje kunnen wonen, in een ruim huis met een camper voor de deur, en in het weekend naar de mall kunnen gaan?.

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The '9-11' hijack

Posted on September 11th, 2006 by martijn.
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Uncategorized.

Well what to say about ‘9-11’? ‘9-11’ has changed the world in a tremendous way, although some of the changes might have started earlier already. Without ‘9-11’ in the Netherlands Pim Fortuyn’s message wouldn’t have been so powerful. In 1996 Pim Fortuyn released his book ‘Against the islamization of our culture’ in which he elaborated on the issues Bolkestein had addressed earlier. Bolkestein, political leader of the Dutch liberal party (VVD) stated in a lecture and an interview that Islam was incompatible with Western liberal values. He was the first politician to use the minority issue as a political strategy. The only party to have claimed that before him was the Centrumpartij, but they were a marginalized group. Bolkestein called for migrants to adjust to Dutch law and that the multicultural society had its limits because not all cultures were equal. His lecture, held in Luzern, provided an extensive analysis of NATO’s new strategy, where former NATO secretary-general Claes had stated earlier that according to him Islam was as dangerous as communism. Bolkestein was severely criticized for his statements, however this criticism related more to the way he said things than to the content of his message.
According to Muslims, including liberal Muslims, were against the separation of church and state, against equality of men and women, and the main threat for world peace from which he concluded that Islam was a backward culture. Two weeks before ‘9-11’ and the day after ‘9-11’ he pleaded for a ‘Cold War’ against Islam. Although Fortuyn’s discourse was not exclusively ‘Islam-topic’ – he had strong anti-establishment rhetoric as well – his message concerning Islam became the most visible. His popularity caused other politicians to firm up their language on and towards migrants. When he was killed on 6 May 2002 the whole country fell into shock and many people (Muslim and non-Muslim) openly expressed the hope that the perpetrator would not be a Muslim.

In May 2001 an imam from Rotterdam, Khalil El Moumni, spoke out on a Dutch TV-programme against homosexuality (in the context of acts of violence against homosexuals by young Moroccan boys) calling it a contagious disease. The debate that ensued concentrated on whether Dutch tolerance had gone too far in allowing such kinds of intolerant opinions to be publicly expressed. Opinions like El Moumni were considered to be the ultimate proof that the multicultural society was a “drama” and that the main culprit was Islam. That was the first time a traditional Moroccan imam spoke on TV and the question for many people was ‘how many Muslims share the same (clashing) values?’ and ‘what messages were these imams spreading in the mosques?’ Even though El Moumni’s views on homosexuality coincided with those of the Catholic Church nevertheless this nuance was lost in the ensuing debate. This was partly caused by the fact that the same TV programme did not air his full opinion against violence towards homosexuals. His selectively aired words added fuel to the fire of anger surrounding the relation between three fundamental rights: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and the non-discrimination principle. He also became an example of the problematic relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. Moreover, the fact that he had made these remarks only a few weeks after the passing of new legislation allowing homosexual marriages made it probably more painful. El Moumni had pointed at an issue that had involved a bitter struggle for several years and that seemed to have been finally resolved.
The attacks on 11 September 2001 were very rapidly considered as attacks on the West, on ‘us’, and on our Western values of democracy and freedom. The Dutch government first asked for thoughtfulness but then also stated that 9-11 was tantamount to a declaration of war. Sylvain Ephimenco (a Dutch writer) pointed to Islam as the fertile ground which produces terrorists; Leon de Winter (a Dutch writer) claimed that the West was in a state of war with Islam; and Frentrop (a Dutch journalist) pleaded for a ban on Islam. The Dutch filmmaker and columnist Van Gogh would declare later that 9-11 was an eye opener for him. One of the main questions raised in many of these reactions was how ‘ordinary’ Muslims related to these extremist Muslims. Several reactions (some intended, some unintended, some distorted) added fuel to the fire: Is Islam compatible with a democracy based on the separation of church and state as well as equal rights for men and women? Though several Muslim opinion leaders tried to contribute to the debate but the scope of their contributions remained limited because they were much divided and none could be considered as truly representative of the Muslim community. Moreover, their hesitation to combine a condemnation of the attacks in support of democracy, together with solidarity with the US, worsened the situation according to many people.

After Fortuyn’s death, Hirsi Ali together with several others became the leading Islam-critic voicing the concern that Islam, as a system, was incompatible with liberal Western culture. The criticism was partly caused by the fear that religion would become a leading factor in the public domain. She stated in the daily Trouw that prophet Mohammed would be considered a perverse man, a tyrant, according to our western standards of these days (she made that in reference to his (alleged) sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine). She also stressed her personal belief that Islam can be ‘ill’ used against women and she harshly criticized Islam. Sometimes she qualified her condemnation but the subtleties were lost or seen as irrelevant. Upon declaring her apostasy she started to receive death threats. The same was the case for Theo van Gogh.

Columnist and filmmaker Van Gogh called (radical) Muslims ‘goatfuckers’ and ‘fifth column’ and regularly insulted other groups as well in his daily column in the free daily Metro.  Together with Hirsi Ali he made the film Submission I in which they addressed the issue of abuse of women in the name of Islam. He was killed on 2 November 2004 by a Moroccan Dutch young man. This was, according to many people, the definite proof of the intolerance of Islam. The polarization between Muslims (as Muslims) and non-Muslims (as Dutch) increased in the aftermath of his murder, and which resulted, among other things, in the arson of a mosque, an Islamic school, churches and many similar attempts. In the public debate that followed two questions emerged: First, how large was this group of radical Muslims and how could it be controlled? Second, was there a limit to freedom of speech? Muslim organizations were called upon to speak out against this murder and to condemn violence. The fact that many young people on the Internet were more unambiguous in their condemnation became a cause for concern and a sign for many observers that Muslims should increase their capacity to endure criticism. For some politicians the time for dialogue with Muslims was over. The tension rose even more when the so-called Hofstadgroup was apprehended after a siege in The Hague. They were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder several Dutch politicians such as Hirsi Ali, Cohen, and Aboutaleb, the mayor and an alderman from Amsterdam. Several other incidents such as the one with ‘youth-imam’ Abdul Jabber van de Ven (who publicly acknowledged that he would not mind that Wilders – a radical right wing politician – would die of cancer), the Tilburg imam Salam (who refused to shake hands with minister Verdonk), and the fact that two politicians (Hirsi Ali and Wilders) had to go into hiding, made the situation worse and strengthened the idea that Muslims were the fifth column.

Although the assassination of Van Gogh seems to have taken over the position as the most important landmark of relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, ‘9-11’ remains important.

(more…)

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The ‘9-11’ hijack

Posted on September 11th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Uncategorized.

Well what to say about ‘9-11’? ‘9-11’ has changed the world in a tremendous way, although some of the changes might have started earlier already. Without ‘9-11’ in the Netherlands Pim Fortuyn’s message wouldn’t have been so powerful. In 1996 Pim Fortuyn released his book ‘Against the islamization of our culture’ in which he elaborated on the issues Bolkestein had addressed earlier. Bolkestein, political leader of the Dutch liberal party (VVD) stated in a lecture and an interview that Islam was incompatible with Western liberal values. He was the first politician to use the minority issue as a political strategy. The only party to have claimed that before him was the Centrumpartij, but they were a marginalized group. Bolkestein called for migrants to adjust to Dutch law and that the multicultural society had its limits because not all cultures were equal. His lecture, held in Luzern, provided an extensive analysis of NATO’s new strategy, where former NATO secretary-general Claes had stated earlier that according to him Islam was as dangerous as communism. Bolkestein was severely criticized for his statements, however this criticism related more to the way he said things than to the content of his message.
According to Muslims, including liberal Muslims, were against the separation of church and state, against equality of men and women, and the main threat for world peace from which he concluded that Islam was a backward culture. Two weeks before ‘9-11’ and the day after ‘9-11’ he pleaded for a ‘Cold War’ against Islam. Although Fortuyn’s discourse was not exclusively ‘Islam-topic’ – he had strong anti-establishment rhetoric as well – his message concerning Islam became the most visible. His popularity caused other politicians to firm up their language on and towards migrants. When he was killed on 6 May 2002 the whole country fell into shock and many people (Muslim and non-Muslim) openly expressed the hope that the perpetrator would not be a Muslim.

In May 2001 an imam from Rotterdam, Khalil El Moumni, spoke out on a Dutch TV-programme against homosexuality (in the context of acts of violence against homosexuals by young Moroccan boys) calling it a contagious disease. The debate that ensued concentrated on whether Dutch tolerance had gone too far in allowing such kinds of intolerant opinions to be publicly expressed. Opinions like El Moumni were considered to be the ultimate proof that the multicultural society was a “drama” and that the main culprit was Islam. That was the first time a traditional Moroccan imam spoke on TV and the question for many people was ‘how many Muslims share the same (clashing) values?’ and ‘what messages were these imams spreading in the mosques?’ Even though El Moumni’s views on homosexuality coincided with those of the Catholic Church nevertheless this nuance was lost in the ensuing debate. This was partly caused by the fact that the same TV programme did not air his full opinion against violence towards homosexuals. His selectively aired words added fuel to the fire of anger surrounding the relation between three fundamental rights: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and the non-discrimination principle. He also became an example of the problematic relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. Moreover, the fact that he had made these remarks only a few weeks after the passing of new legislation allowing homosexual marriages made it probably more painful. El Moumni had pointed at an issue that had involved a bitter struggle for several years and that seemed to have been finally resolved.
The attacks on 11 September 2001 were very rapidly considered as attacks on the West, on ‘us’, and on our Western values of democracy and freedom. The Dutch government first asked for thoughtfulness but then also stated that 9-11 was tantamount to a declaration of war. Sylvain Ephimenco (a Dutch writer) pointed to Islam as the fertile ground which produces terrorists; Leon de Winter (a Dutch writer) claimed that the West was in a state of war with Islam; and Frentrop (a Dutch journalist) pleaded for a ban on Islam. The Dutch filmmaker and columnist Van Gogh would declare later that 9-11 was an eye opener for him. One of the main questions raised in many of these reactions was how ‘ordinary’ Muslims related to these extremist Muslims. Several reactions (some intended, some unintended, some distorted) added fuel to the fire: Is Islam compatible with a democracy based on the separation of church and state as well as equal rights for men and women? Though several Muslim opinion leaders tried to contribute to the debate but the scope of their contributions remained limited because they were much divided and none could be considered as truly representative of the Muslim community. Moreover, their hesitation to combine a condemnation of the attacks in support of democracy, together with solidarity with the US, worsened the situation according to many people.

After Fortuyn’s death, Hirsi Ali together with several others became the leading Islam-critic voicing the concern that Islam, as a system, was incompatible with liberal Western culture. The criticism was partly caused by the fear that religion would become a leading factor in the public domain. She stated in the daily Trouw that prophet Mohammed would be considered a perverse man, a tyrant, according to our western standards of these days (she made that in reference to his (alleged) sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine). She also stressed her personal belief that Islam can be ‘ill’ used against women and she harshly criticized Islam. Sometimes she qualified her condemnation but the subtleties were lost or seen as irrelevant. Upon declaring her apostasy she started to receive death threats. The same was the case for Theo van Gogh.

Columnist and filmmaker Van Gogh called (radical) Muslims ‘goatfuckers’ and ‘fifth column’ and regularly insulted other groups as well in his daily column in the free daily Metro.  Together with Hirsi Ali he made the film Submission I in which they addressed the issue of abuse of women in the name of Islam. He was killed on 2 November 2004 by a Moroccan Dutch young man. This was, according to many people, the definite proof of the intolerance of Islam. The polarization between Muslims (as Muslims) and non-Muslims (as Dutch) increased in the aftermath of his murder, and which resulted, among other things, in the arson of a mosque, an Islamic school, churches and many similar attempts. In the public debate that followed two questions emerged: First, how large was this group of radical Muslims and how could it be controlled? Second, was there a limit to freedom of speech? Muslim organizations were called upon to speak out against this murder and to condemn violence. The fact that many young people on the Internet were more unambiguous in their condemnation became a cause for concern and a sign for many observers that Muslims should increase their capacity to endure criticism. For some politicians the time for dialogue with Muslims was over. The tension rose even more when the so-called Hofstadgroup was apprehended after a siege in The Hague. They were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder several Dutch politicians such as Hirsi Ali, Cohen, and Aboutaleb, the mayor and an alderman from Amsterdam. Several other incidents such as the one with ‘youth-imam’ Abdul Jabber van de Ven (who publicly acknowledged that he would not mind that Wilders – a radical right wing politician – would die of cancer), the Tilburg imam Salam (who refused to shake hands with minister Verdonk), and the fact that two politicians (Hirsi Ali and Wilders) had to go into hiding, made the situation worse and strengthened the idea that Muslims were the fifth column.

Although the assassination of Van Gogh seems to have taken over the position as the most important landmark of relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, ‘9-11’ remains important.

(more…)

0 comments.

Dutch woman charged with terrorist offence

Posted on September 9th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Yassin Nassari, a Syrian man who teaches English, was charged on by police with possessing information likely to be useful to a terrorist. He was charged under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Nassiri is charged on 30 May, under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act (Possession for terrorist purposes) with possessing a document likely to be useful to a terrorist after a pre- planned intelligence operation. Police sources said there was no suggestion that the allegations related to a threat to the UK. According to the prosecutor documents on his laptop computer were found about making a rocket-propelled explosive and a letter from his wife encouraging martyrdom.

After Nassari’s arrest, police searched his house and asked police in the Netherlands to search an address in Eindhoven related to his family. (more…)

1 comment.

Loose Change III – the ‘9-11’ conspiracy

Posted on September 8th, 2006 by .
Categories: International Terrorism.

By now the new conspiracy theories concerning ‘9-11’ have hit the Netherlands as well. The Belgian TV has aired the documentary Loose Change in a very critical way. But of course, nothwithstanding all the evidence against some of their challenges to the offical ‘9-11’ version, the theories remain and the movie that can be downloaded everywhere is hit.

But be aware that although there are conspiracy theories this doesn’t mean that conspiracies don’t exist! And if the accusation that Bin Laden is behind it all and that the hijackers were acting on his behalf, isn’t a conspiracy theorie that what is one? In fact Loose Change III is out and has already been aired on Aljazeera: Al-Qaeda video takes credit for 9-11

A screenshot from the professionally-produced tape

A new videotape aired on Aljazeera television has shown Osama bin Laden and senior Al-Qaeda members meeting with some of the men who carried out the September 11 attacks against the US in 2001.

The 90-minute video apparently shows Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, taking part in the planning and preparation of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

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