My Dutch View

Submitted by Niek Bosch (United Kingdom), Oct 22, 2005 at 03:42

The killing of Theo van Gogh was one of the saddest days for Holland. To me, it was the end of the once so liberal and open minded society in which I was raised.

To judge Theo only on this movie, doesn't do him right. He was a man that was able to stir the water. To get people to think.
He was not opposing islam in general, but he did fight the extreme thoughts that one finds in this religion. He did this with the only tool he mastered; words.

He used the words of renowned islamic clerics like Ayatollah Khomeini and quotes from the Qu'ran to prove his points. Theo is dead now.

It wasn't the first murder though, that was caused by opposing the islamic religion. Pim Fortuyn, was killed by an left extremist thinker, after the leading dutch politicians of the time (Ad Melkert and Wim Kok) made sure that he was seen as a right extremist.

There is one definite reason that caused these attrocities. 30 long years, people have not been allowed to speak out; the media imposed the commonly accepted views and did not tolerate any dissident views. Critisizing islam and the muslim community was racist, and you would be branded a racist.

My family and I have been threatened because I refused to shut up. And I had to make the choice to leave the Netherlands.

I still read the news, I still read the comments on the forums. The country I once knew and loved is no more.

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