More victimization after Van Gogh murder

• The El Tawheed mosque, where Mohamed B. often went and which was earlier the subject of heavy debate because of the fact they sold a book telling Muslims to throw gays of high building, now has conjured up a fancy lawyer who used some airtime on Dutch PBS to accuse a prominent Christian-Democrat MP of making *them* feel unsafe and fear for their lives. As the Dutch say: dit moet niet gekker worden. (I'm not going to translate it. Try to pronounce it if you don't understand; it'll sound funny and you'll laugh anyway.)

• Powerlineblog points out the newspaper that brought us Jayson Blair is currently telling the Dutch how we should deal with people like Van Gogh murderer Mohamed B. The problem is not radical Islamism, according to the NYT, it's us: 'The problem is not Muslim immigration, but a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse society.' (Remind me to only read the WSJ next time I'm in the States.)

• Yasin Hartog of the 'Stuurgroep Islam en Samenleving' (which roughly translates to Control Group Islam and Society - I kid you not) gets an opportunity in NRC Handelsblad to explain why offended Moroccans didn't sue Theo van Gogh if they were really that pissed off. That's because they thought they would probably lose. Right. So of course it makes perfect sense someone had to take matters into his own hands. On behalf of all Dutch my most sincere and humble apologies. Henceforth, we will pre-emptively jail anyone with opinions that might actually offend someone.

23:45

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Formal declaration of war against Jihadism

We are at war with terrorism, according to vice prime minister Gerrit Zalm (Liberal Party). Finally.

(Our prime minister is the chairman of the European Union at the moment, and he was therefore unavailable for the weekly press conference of the council of ministers.)

18:01

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Full English translation of letter by Van Gogh murderer

Dan-Cannon has translated the five page note that Van Gogh murderer Mohammed B. pinned to his victims body with a knife. Two remarks regarding Dan's translation. First, he questions his translation of the Dutch word 'leiding', which means either 'leadership' or 'guidance', depending on context. From the context, I agree with Dan's assessment that 'leadership' offers the best approximation. Second, Dan wonders about a passage in which Hirshi Ali is criticized for wanting to screen job applicants for their ideological background. Dan suggests Mohamed B. may be referring to the application of a staying permit or passport, but that isn't the case. His original translation is correct: Hirshi Ali was indeed referring to job interviews.

Press 'Lees verder' to read the entire translation.

More...

17:29

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Dutch links roundup

• A very interesting, albeit slightly older, interview with Van Gogh's opinions on the Ten Commandments can be read here. It's in Dutch, and not for the faint of heart. If you think Bill O'Reilly or Michael Moore can be crude, think again ;-)

• It's been an overly serious couple of days. Therefore, some pleasantly insensitive cartoons by Fokke and Sukke. I'll translate the top one. The headline says 'Fokke and Sukke have the wrong shopping list'. The character on the right then reads, from his shopping list, the text 'Die, you have to die!'

16:31

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Welcome, visitors from LittleGreenFootballs and AndrewSullivan.Com

Thanks for your interest in the Van Gogh murder. Since I am Dutch, I may accidentally leave out certain facts which are widely known here, but not abroad. In those cases, feel free to drop me a line.

13:02

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Hirsi Ali now blamed for Van Gogh murder

In an insane case of role reversal, a Moroccan inhabitant has decided to file a complaint (presumably with Dutch police, although the article doesn't say) against Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali for being an accomplice to the murder of Theo van Gogh. According to the 31-year old guy, Hirsi Ali dragged Van Gogh into the danger zone by making him complicit in her criticism of Islam.

Come and visit Amsterdam! Our weed is really this potent!

12:27

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Police: there's no Islamist hit list

Amsterdam chief of police Bernard Welten just said: there is no Islamist hit list, but if there is one, media should hand it to the police. Right. This reminds me of Tuesday, when the police denied Mohamed B. was known by the AIVD, the Dutch intelligence agency. That rumor turned out to be completely true, however.
In the same press conference, district attorney Leo de Wit chastized his boss, secretary Piet-Hein Donner of Justice, for bringing the Mohamed B. letter into the public domain before they were able to show it to a judge. Two days apparently weren't enough for Mr. De Wit.
Yesterday, I reported on how Rotterdam police removed a mural which featured a dove and the Biblical commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'. It was deemed offensive.
I think this would be a great opportunity for various Dutch institutions and organizations to stop trying to tell the people what we can or cannot say, can or cannot know.
We are the people. They are our civil servants, not the other way around.

11:38

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Dutch blog: letter contains hidden reference to Al Qaeda

Dutch shock blog Geen Stijl speculates about a connection with Al Qaeda. Money quote:

'The signature was "Deen alMuwahhied" but this is an anagram. What was meant is "alMuwahhieddeen", which is a reference to the Mujahedeen. It is however, a very odd way of spelling it, which can only be found in one other location: at the website AlMuwahhiedDeen.com. This is a disabled Al Qaeda website that contained a forum.'

I don't find this too convincing yet, but it is interesting enough to keep an eye on. Especially since secretary Piet-Hein Donner of Justice vehemently denied the existence of any connections between Mohamed B. and Al Qaeda.

Update 13.03: the blog Sargasso has a far more convincing explanation of the al Muwahhied remark. Apparently, it means 'Those who conform the unity of God.' (Hat tip to AvdK.)

10:51

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Suicide squads?

The same article from De Telegraaf that mentions the hit lists also contains the following sentence: 'The Netherlands is threatened by an Islamic martyr brigade, consisting of youths who have been trained to commit suicide attacks.'

10:30

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Islamist hit list made public

According to populist broadsheet De Telegraaf, there's a radical Islamist hit list which contains the names of other prominent Dutch that should fear for their lives.

They are:

• Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch M.P., a former Muslim and a vocal critic of radical Islam
• Geert Wilders, Dutch M.P., also critical of radical Islam
• Rita Verdonk, secretary of Immigration
• Job Cohen, the Jewish mayor of Amsterdam
• Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Moroccan vice mayor of Amsterdam
• Frits Barend, left-wing talk show host

I've writen about Aboutaleb here. He's a courageous guy who dares to criticize his fellow Muslims.

Hirsi Ali and Wilders spent the night in heavily guarded 'safe houses', according to De Telegraaf.

10:23

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Silent killers

The last words of Theo van Gogh were allegedly: 'Don't do it, have mercy.' Other accounts state that he wanted to talk with Mohamed B., even though he'd been shot at already. I tend to believe this, and I think it's typical of this country.
Dutch people have one thing in common: they really like to talk. A survey once showed that we have more personal websites per capita than any other country, including the USA. We may not know anything about a certain subject, but we reserve the right to spout our opinions about it anyway. An acquaintance of mine said: 'I don't understand why Van Gogh was killed. We were just talking.'
The Netherlands is slowly waking up to the realization that perhaps not everyone wants to talk.

Update 10.34: so of course our queen to be, princess Maxima, thinks there should be more dialogue. I know talking to yourself is often the only way to have a truly intelligent conversation, but can we please have a republic now?

10:14

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Partial English translation of Mohamed B. letter online

Read it here. Money quote:

I know for sure that you, Oh America will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Europe, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Holland, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Hirsi Ali, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh unbelieving fundamentalist, will go under.

I think they're not referring to a dyke breach here.

9:50

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'I am certain the Netherlands will meet their end'

It's one of the sentences from Mohamed B.'s letter, the one that was pinned to Van Gogh's lifeless body with a knife. The full text can be read here. There's something for everyone: hatred of non-Muslims, hatred of fellow Muslims who are not Muslim enough, hatred of Jews, hatred of Americans, of Europe, of the Netherlands...
They're a fun bunch, for sure.
I guess we're at war then.

(Oh, by the way, there's also a part about leaving pregnant camels at an unspecified location. No, I don't get it either. An Ozzie mate suggested this would be something a father camel could do before running off to the desert whilst screaming really loudly. I guess I'm just not cut out for Jihadi hermeneutics.)

1:13

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This would explain a lot

It's been noted that Mohamed B. appeared to be such a well-adjusted young man before he radicalized. Newspaper De Telegraaf suggests that B. was a member of terrorist sect Al Takfir Wal Hijra. This is the same radical Islamic cult that Al Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri apparently belongs to. Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, currently frustrating democracy in Iraq, is also said to be part of this fine organization. TIME wrote about Takfir Wal Hijra: 'Takfir wal Hijra is a sort of Islamic fascism.' However, even more interesting is the assertion that Takfir Wal Hijra apparently allows its members to appear non-radical, and even non-Islamic, if the mission requires it: 'The threat of Takfir is that its cold, heartless killers could easily be the boy or girl next door. Takfir Wal Hijra members are permitted to disregard the injunctions of Islamic law in order to blend into infidel societies. In other words, Takfirs can have sex with loose women, drink alcohol, eat pork and do whatever else they feel is appropriate to advance their mission.'
Perhaps the reason nobody noticed anything odd about Mohamed B. was that he didn't want anyone to.

0:42

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Big City 2004: Van Gogh-inspired song

Courtesy of VolkomenKut.Com (which means TotallyCunt.Com for all you Yanks): here's a new version of the old song 'Big City'. It starts funny, it ends rather politically incorrect, if not totally xenophobic. Then again, never have I believed in the maxim 'Publish and be damned' more than this week.

0:29

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