Zacht Ei
Doorbakken kan altijd nog
Zacht Ei
Doorbakken kan altijd nog |
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 • Home • Archive Columns Death Handboek Digitale Criminaliteit Handboek Internetresearch Life Me, myself & I Omeletrecepten On the road The Netherlands The World Theo van Gogh • Bio arjan@zachtei.nl internetresearch@ hotmail.com • Arjandasselaar.nl • Del.icio.us-bookmarks • Planet-columns • RSS-feed Planet-columns © Arjan Dasselaar. Click here for more information Kunt u mijn laatste Planet Internet-column ook zo moeilijk terugvinden? (1) Resuscitating Zacht Ei (2) Survey: US immigration officers are a bunch of pr*cks (2) Party time (1) Majority of Dutch bloggers do not practice journalism (1)
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Friday, November 12, 2004
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry It occurs to me reading your blog tutu-tutting the reactions of your countrymen that you may be somewhat unfair to them. The reaction of the government seems to have a lot to do with the reaction of the people. In short, the government seemed to give no legitimate outlet for the people's frustration. Immediately after 9/11 there was a crackdown combined with apocalyptically revengful rhetoric. This seemed to immediatyely calm people down..."oh good, someone is doing something". Holland seemed to react immediately by tearing down "Thou Shalt Not Kill" signs as hate crimes. I'm a snobby intellectual with a disdain for activism of any type. I don't believe in a God or my country. And I'd have looked for muslims to kill too if my government had acted so poorly. People have been giving the Dutch problems for their reactions because statistically they reacted worse than Americans have. I never thought I'd say this, but they were well and truly provoked. First by Mohammedans, then by their own governments. Context is everything. James Versluys (ip:69.151.200.226) 12 November 2004 - 23:52 uur If you're angry, you can protest, write or call your MP, or even do something about by joining a political party (or founding one, if you can't agree with any of them). In due time, you can also vote the current government out. Being angry doesn't give anyone the right to wilfully ignore any laws which were affirmed by a democratically chosen Parliament. Especially not if your anger infringes on other people's rights. I put it better at http://www.zachtei.nl/2004/11/08/000455.html Not that it would be an excuse to act like a vengeful Cro Magnon if they had been lenient, but the response of the Dutch government has been much harsher than you suggest. The behaviour of Opstelten in Rotterdam was ludicrous, but the Balkenende administration nearly immediately declared 'war' on terrorism (strong terms in the Netherlands). The amount of suggested measures against terrorism is huge, the extent far-fetching ( see http://www.zachtei.nl/2004/11/12/000508.html ). As I remember, president George W. Bush also visited a mosque soon after 9/11. Civilized behaviour needn't prevent us from protecting civilization. Arjan (ip:82.161.93.35) 12 November 2004 - 0:31 uur Comment
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