Guess the fact that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch MP of Somali origin, was as good as expelled from the Netherlands two weeks ago did not go unnoticed on the other side of the Atlantic. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is scheduled to leave for the United States in September, where she will be working for the American Enterprise Institute. If she stays alive long enough, that is. Her new movie Submission 2, on the position of gays in muslim societies, is coming up and some don't like it. Now, if you put your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and sing loudly LALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!! for about a weekend, you may be able to temporarily restore the illusion that Holland is still just the country where pot smoking gay married couples with children can peacefully pedal along on their bikes over the dykes enjoying the sights of tulipfields, windmills and the likes.But it gets increasingly difficult, take it from moi.
During the first week of June the Dutch Queen, Beatrix, widow of the late Prince Claus, visited the Mobarak Mosque in The Hague. With its fifty-one years it's the oldest mosque in The Netherlands. The brand of Islam practiced there is called Ahmadiyya-Islam. Like Shiite muslims, Ahmadiyya-muslims are not allowed to shake hands with women, or even touch them, with the obvious exception of their wives. Women are deemed less than men in Islam you know, and these chaps don't mind showing it. Anyway, in comes Zhe Kween, puts off her shoes and is given a guided tour of the mosque. "Out of respect for the muslim faith" she doesn't shake hands with the Imam or any other male muslim. However, there is still hope to save her filthy kuffar soul since as a consolation prize she is given a fancy leatherbound Koran, see photo. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Holland Anno 2006.To add insult to injury, the Dutch PM, Jan-Peter Balkenende, praised Queen Beatrix for the “example of religious tolerance” she gave by not shaking hands. How this dork ever got his government so far as to send a light brigade to Iraq is beyond me. He must have been very ill when he pushed for it. As usual, there was but one reaction of sanity among Dutch politicians, when Geert Wilders, the center-right, anti-immigration MP who has by now been living for almost 2 years under round the clock protection from bodyguards, decried in Parliament how "greatly irritated" he had been by the Queen and the Prime Minister, who "under the pretext of tolerance are selling out Dutch values such as the equality between men and women."
Wilders, btw, is a fella who wants to:
* amend Dutch Constitution so that it states that the dominant culture in The Neterlands is that of the judeo-christian and humanistic traditions
* stop the building of new mosques for a period of 5 years
* stop the establishment of new islamic schools for a period of 5 years
* stop immigration for a period of 5 years
* forbid preaching in another than the Dutch language
* introduce minimum penalties (right now "small" criminals get sweets, a porn dvd and are "released" with a fatherly thump on the shoulder and after having promised that they won't never do it again on that day)
* impose more severe maximum penalties
* strongly lower taxes
* strongly reduce the size of government and the whole public sector
* abolish the European Commission and the European Parliament
* stop development aid (not emergency aid however)and abolish all trade barriers with developing countries
In short, I gather that if Geert didn't have a name which must sound awful in English, as well as a horrible hairdo (ashblonde, Mozartlike), he could be GOP nominee for the 2008 Presidential Elections. Instead, the man is constantly surrounded by bodyguards since he regularly receives death threats from islamic radicals and extreme leftists, and as a consequence has to live on secret locations. Ironically, one and a half year ago one of these was a modified prison cell in a military camp, Kamp Zeist, a place also used to temporarily house illegal immigrants.Actually the whole business is too insane for words. There's almost not a week going by without reports of roundups of radical islamic youths, findings of explosives and troubling news of salafist mosques acting as hate factories. Hirsi Ali gets expelled, much to the joy of extreme leftists and islamic organizations. Top rightwing politicians like Jozias Van Aartsen and Rita Verdonk need bodyguards to move about and are driven around in armoured mercedeses. A site like Dutch Disease Report, which was something like a local LGF, is mysteriously shut down. And then Queen Beatrix enters a mosque and won't shake hands with muslim males, thereby acknowledging her own inferiority. In Bending over and Royally lifting the Robe, Beatrix is actually stabbing one of her own ministers in the back: Rita Verdonk, nicknamed Iron Rita, of the pro free market VVD and responsible for immigration and assimilation. Two years ago Verdonk addressed a gathering of imams and when offering her hand to one was greatly insulted since the chap refused to do so because of his faith. Afterwards it became clear that half of the imams attending Verdonks speech did not understand Dutch.
On April 26, 2006 the incident was repeated when Mrs. Verdonk, when she wanted to hand out a certificate proving the successful attendance of an assimilation course to the imam of Zoetermeer, again was explained that said imam could not shake her hand because of his faith. Duh. There should be handshaking chapters in assimilation courses.Paul Belien of The Brussels Journal offers an interesting take when he compares the Dutch Queen's willingness to meet with, and submit to, members of a faith which denounces her own gender as inferior, with her unwillingness to meet with members of Vlaams Belang, the Flemish bulwark against the islamization of Belgium:
In truth this “tolerance” of Beatrix is a sham, which is proved by the fact that in 1982 she refused to visit a group of radical Orthodox Jews because they... refuse to shake hands with women. And there are others whose hands the Dutch Queen will not shake. Politicians from Belgium’s largest party, the Vlaams Belang, learned today that they will not get to see the Dutch Queen during her official state visit to Belgium next month. While in Brussels Beatrix will meet members from all the parties represented in the Belgian Parliament except the VB. This allegedly “far right” party aims for the independence of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern half of the country, and many of its members feel Dutch rather than Belgian. However, the VB also opposes the “islamization” of the country and voted against bills legalising abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and other legislation which the Belgians copied from the Dutch.
Belien is correct. By coincidence, last week a client of mine, who happens to work at the Royal Palace in Laken, disclosed some of the preparations that are being made to make this Dutch Royal Visit to Belgium a success. There will be a huge gala dinner and he estimated the number of guests at 250. That means that not only the Dutch Royals are coming over but the "better" part of Dutch politics as well. In short, it's gonna be a jolly good camaraderie of the fine fleur of Dutch and Belgian royalty and the establisment. The pariahs of the VB are not allowed though.
Thus, no handshaking for Imams out of respect for Islam.
No handshaking either for the VB, but this time out of disrespect for coming up for our civilization.
We are doomed.
MFBB.
UPDATE:
40% of Moroccan youth in The Netherlands rejecs democracy.
A study of the CRES, the Centre for study of Radicalism and Extremism, found that 40 percent of Moroccan youth in The Netherlands reject western values and democracy. Six to seven percent are prepared to use force to defend Islam. The majority are opposed to freedom of speech for offensive statements, particularly criticism of Islam. CRES's Director, Mr. Buijs, said on Wednesday that the government must provide alternatives for Salafism, a contemporary movement in Sunni Islam that seeks a return to the 'pure Islam' of the days of Mohammed. Salafism is a gaining ground in the Netherlands and Buijs said the government must do more to stimulate a more pluralistic form of Islam.
THAT's the answer!!! The government must do more!!! I know what the Dutch government should do!!! Print im-me-di-a-tely millions and millions of assimilation courses!!! Every last one of them to be personally signed by Queen Beatrix!
And, uh, maybe they should not include the shaking hands chapters. Just a thought you know...