Protests are being planned in the Netherlands in response to a motion accepted by the Dutch parliament to “keep a record of the cultural and religious norms and values of Dutch people of immigrant background”.
general petition calling for motion Anti-racism activists are planning a demonstration against the government's move next Saturday. The government's largest party is headed by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.
The motion by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), part of a right-wing coalition, states that “data on the norms and values of ethnic minorities could provide insights into cultural integration” and urges the government to It asks them to “retain the details”. Through social research.
However, Mpanzu Bamenga, an MP from the Progressive Democratic Party 66, said: Dutch border police taken to court to overturn ethnic profilingcalled this “the new social low” in a LinkedIn post.
“This whole motion has a racist starting point,” he told the Guardian. “It assumes that there is a 'them and us', that there is a problem with ethnic minorities and that whatever it is has to be changed to 'our norms and values.' It's completely optional. ”
In the Netherlands, a soccer match between Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv and Amsterdam's Ajax has sparked a heated debate about integration and segregation after violence, including anti-Semitic violence. right wing politician Dutch Muslim minority blames weak four-party coalition for failing to integrate Barely avoided falling In November, one vice minister and two members of the Diet resigned, citing discrimination and the “tone” of the debate.
For some, the motion's title brings to mind memories of the Holocaust, in which the Nazis invited Jews to register in municipalities.
Jelle Zijlstra, a theater director and activist with a Jewish background, said anti-Semitism is widespread across all social classes. “The motive seems to be that only other people, in this case immigrants, Muslims, or people not of Dutch origin, are guilty of anti-Semitism, homophobia or misogyny,” he said. said.
“But in a few weeks the archives will open and all the documents will be made available to the public. [Nazi] There will be collaborators and people who betrayed the Jews. I imagine that the rosy view that 'we were all part of the resistance' will be rather undermined. ”
Tom van der Meer, a political science professor at the University of Amsterdam, said the Dutch Institute for Social Research had already conducted extensive research on different groups. “There are studies that are sample-based, studies that emphasize privacy and voluntary participation, and studies that are not about individuals,” he said. “The motion is a bit problematic because it suggests it is about registration, which it cannot be. It is something like that.”
VVD lawmaker Bente Becker, who wrote the motion, said he would be appalled if the “unrest” affected people, adding that this was not a call for registration, but for groups in a “parallel society of migrants”. He said he called for research. Their background is that Dutch values such as democracy, a constitutional state, and gender equality are not accepted. ”
She told the Guardian in an email: [but] We will be able to discuss how integration is progressing based on what is actually happening in society, rather than intuition. ”
Mr Bamenga, who discussed the issue with Mr Becker in a parliamentary committee before the VVD motion was tabled, disagreed. “It's not the intention that matters, it's the result,” he says. “Words are important”
