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can we trust liberal politicians ? Lesson from the Netherlands
Ismail Martens
Al-Jazeerah, 10/24/03
Any Muslim who thinks that Liberal politicians are more tolerant than “right –wing “ politicians should look at the reality in one of the most liberal countries in the world : The Netherlands
The Netherlands, the country where drug use , prostitution , gay “marriage” and “euthanasia” are legal ….
One may also think that gay politicians would , as a former discriminated minority, be very understanding of the wishes for a respected “path of personal choice “ for other minorities .
Well , this would be a gross misunderstanding of the reality
The current anti-Islamic mood in the Netherlands is started by the late Mr.Fortuyn, a flamboyant and openly gay right-wing political commentator who stormed the political scene with a program based on anti-Islamic and anti-refugee rhetoric .His career and life got cut short by a radical environmentalist who was worried about both his anti-environmentalism and his anti-minority stance .
One would think that the left-wing politicians would denounce the whole program of Fortuyn , regretfully that is not true . The Left did see that anti-Islamism brought votes ,so they started howling with the choir of anti-Muslim wolves that was formally dominated by the right wing .Around Amsterdam it are two leftwing papers "Trouw" and "het Parool" who give frontpage attention to each issue that may place Islam and Muslims in a negative light .
The Labor party-leader of Amsterdam Mr Oudkerk got caught on tape talking to Labor party Mayor of Amsterdam about the Moroccan Youths in this town using a profanity before the word Moroccans . This same party leader in his function of town-counsel member started a experiment with forced labor for un-employed in the Neighborhood with the most Muslims in town this while an more ethnic diverse neighborhood was also available .
At the country-wide level there has been a effort to discredit Islamic Schools , a lot of the accusations came from the left-liberal D'66 party which is (accidentally ? ) led by yet another openly gay politician .
What i see happen in my country , makes me wonder : "If people like Chomsky and Nader would be able to get to power by bashing Muslims , would they sell out like the Dutch left ? " The rhetoric about Muslims and refugees that we have been hearing recently from the English Left makes me worry . It is ordained that we shall not take non-Muslims as our protectors , the two-facedness of the Dutch left has shown us why ! The fact that somebody criticizes Israel and/or the USA does not make him/her more than that , Someone who shares a criticism ; That is not the same as an Ally .
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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