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Murder in Amsterdam

Page 20

by Ian Buruma


  Acknowledgments

  Without Avishai Margalit’s encouragement I might never have written this book. My extended stay in Amsterdam was made possible by the unstinting hospitality of Hanca Leppink and Hans Baaij, and the generosity of Heikelien Verijn Stuart and Stan van Houcke, who gave me the run of their wonderful house.

  Many people helped me in my research, by providing contacts, insights, and stimulation, or simply by making time to be interviewed. I shall list those to whom I feel particularly grateful in alphabetical order: Ahmed Aboutaleb, Samir Bantal, Jan Blokker, Hans Blom, Ybo Buruma, Nora Choua, Abdelhakim Chouaati, Job Cohen, Willem Diepraam, Egbert Dommering, Jan Donkers, Ali Eddaoudi, Afshin Ellian, Emile Fallaux, Nico Frijda, Janny Groen, Sadik Harchaoui, Judith Herzberg, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Theodor Holman, Harko Keyzer, Shamanee Kempadoo, Margalith Kleiwegt, Geert Mak, Fouad Mourigh, Funda Müjde, Max Pam, Herman Philipse, Els van der Plas, Bellari Said, Paul Scheffer, R. V. Schipper, Bart Jan Spruyt, Abram de Swaan, Dubravka Ugresic, Gijs van de Westelaken, and Jolande Withuis.

  I owe thanks to two more people who agreed to be interviewed. It was an animated discussion about a sensitive subject. A mistake has been pointed out in the attribution, but every word has been accurately conveyed. Due to the delicate nature of the comments, I have opted to use initials which do not corespond to their real names.

  I also owe a great debt to three members of a sadly diminishing breed, publishers who are also great editors: Emile Brugman, Scott Moyers, and Toby Mundy. Any mistakes in the book are my responsibility alone. Thanks, too, to Jin Auh of the Wylie Agency in New York. And finally, to Eri Hotta, my wife, the value of whose support and encouragement cannot be adequately expressed in words.

  Notes

  Chapter 2: Thank You, Pim

  1.

  Nova, September 29, 2004.

  2.

  Trouw, April 17, 1999.

  3.

  Volkskrant, February 9, 2002.

  4.

  Quoted in Dick Pels, De geest van Pim (Anthos, 2003), p. 63.

  5.

  Lof van het conservatisme (Balans, 2003).

  6.

  I owe a debt for this analysis to Dick Pels’s book on Fortuyn.

  7.

  Pels, p. 201.

  8.

  Ibid., p. 66.

  Chapter 3: The Healthy Smoker

  1.

  HP/De Tijd, November 12, 2004.

  2.

  De Gezonde Roker, December 21, 2003.

  Chapter 4: A Dutch Tragedy

  1.

  Metro, November 3, 2004.

  2.

  Trouw, May 26, 2004.

  Chapter 5: Submission

  1.

  Jutta Chorus and Ahmet Olgun, In godsnaam (Contact: Amsterdam, 2005).

  2.

  De maagdenkooi (Augustus: Amsterdam, 2004).

  3.

  Volkskrant, August 18, 2005.

  4.

  This story, and much of the above, was recounted in Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s De zoontjesfabriek (Augustus: Amsterdam, 2002).

  5.

  Ibid., p. 16.

  6.

  De maagdenkooi, p. 20.

  7.

  Submission (Augustus: Amsterdam, 2004).

  Chapter 6: A Promising Boy

  1.

  De ideologische en religieuze ontwikkeling van Mohammed Bouyeri. Rapport van het deskundigenonderzoek in de strafzaak tegen M. Bouyeri, Prof. Dr. Mr. Ruud Peters.

  2.

  NRC Handelsblad, July 9, 2005.

  3.

  Much of this information is from a report by Jaco Alberts, Jutta Chorus, Steven Derix, and Ahmet Olgun published in NRC Handelsblad, July 9, 2005.

  4.

  Trouw, July 9, 2005.

  5.

  This and other anecdotes are recounted by Jutta Chorus and Ahmet Olgun in their book In godsnaam: Het jaar van Theo van Gogh (Amsterdam, 2005).

  6.

  Quoted in the Peters report.

  7.

  Open Letter to the Dutch People, August 12, 2004.

  8.

  Bas Heijne, Hollandse toestande (Prometheus, 2005).

  Chapter 7: In Memoriam

  1.

  Het Parool, October 12, 2005.

  2.

  November 4, 2004.

  3.

  Elsevier.nl, December 8, 2005.

  4.

  See his Failure of Political Islam.

  Index

  Aartsen, Jozua van, ref1

  Abdu (Bouyeri’s sister’s boyfriend), ref1

  Abou Jahjah, Dyab, ref1

  Aboutaleb, Ahmed, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Abrahams, Frits, ref1

  abusive criticism (schelkdritieken), ref1

  Acherchour, el-Mahdi, ref1

  A Clockwork Orange, ref1

  Ahmed (Bouyeri’s friend), ref1

  AIVD, ref1

  Ajax, ref1, ref2

  Alissa, Mohammad Radwan, ref1

  Allah Knows Better (Van Gogh), ref1

  allochtoon, ref1

  Amersfoort, ref1

  Amsberg, Claus von, ref1

  Amsterdam. See also specific neighborhoods

  ethnic makeup of, ref1, ref2

  Jews and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  jodenhoek (Jews’ corner), ref1, ref2

  red-light district, ref1

  youth rebellion in, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Amsterdam-Noord, ref1

  anti-Semitism, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8

  asylum seekers, ref1, ref2

  Atatürk Camp, ref1

  Atheist Manifesto, The (Philipse), ref1

  August Allebé Square, riot on, ref1, ref2

  Aziza, Sister, ref1, ref2

  Babyboomers (Fortuyn), ref1

  Balkenende, Jan Peter, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8

  Bantal, Samir, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Barbarossa, Frederick, ref1

  Barre, Mohammed Siad, ref1, ref2

  Beatrix, Queen, ref1

  Bellil, Samira, ref1

  Bentinck, Udo, ref1

  Berbers, ref1

  Berrada, Loubna, ref1

  Blind Date, ref1

  Bolkestein, Frits, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Bouwman, Mies, ref1, ref2

  Bouyeri, Hamid, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Bouyeri, Mohammed, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Aboutaleb and, ref1, ref2

  appearance of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Arabic, lack of knowledge of, ref1, ref2

  character and personality of, ref1

  childhood and youth of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  death of mother and, ref1

  death wish of, ref1

  Dutchness of, ref1, ref2

  early ambitions of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  expert witness’s report on, ref1

  Hamid Bouyeri and, ref1, ref2, ref3

  as hero, ref1

  Hirsi Ali and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Internet moniker of, ref1

  Islam and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10

  jihad and, ref1, ref2

  letter of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  love life of, ref1, ref2

  moralism of, ref1, ref2

  mosque of, ref1

  murder targets of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  political affiliation of, ref1

  radicalization of, ref1

  September ref1, reaction to, ref2

  setbacks and arrests of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  trial of, ref1

  on U.S., ref1

  visits to Morocco, ref1

  writings of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Bouyeri, Wardia, ref1

  Calvinism, ref1, ref2, ref3

  cartoon of the Prophet, Danish, ref1, ref2

  Catholics/Catholic Church, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Céline, Louis-Ferdinand, ref1

  Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel, ref1

  Charlem
agne, ref1

  Choua, Nora, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Chouaati, Abdelhakim, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Christian Democratic Party, ref1

  clash of civilizations (Kulturkampf), ref1

  Cleveringa, Rudolph, ref1

  Cleveringa Lecture, ref1

  Cohen, Job, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11

  Communists/Communism, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  concentration camps, ref1, ref2, ref3

  conspiracy theories, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Cool!, ref1, ref2

  Counter-Enlightenment, ref1, ref2

  crime, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Daltons, ref1

  Darod, ref1

  Das Kapital (Marx), ref1

  David, Professor, ref1

  Day on the Beach, A, ref1

  democracy, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Islam as threat to, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Der Spiegel, ref1n

  Deyssel, Lodewijk van, ref1

  DHC, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Diana, princess of Wales, ref1

  Dijkstal, Hans, ref1

  Dirty Paper, The (Van Gogh), ref1

  dish cities, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Disraeli, Benjamin, ref1

  Dittrich, Boris, ref1, ref2

  Douar Ikhammalen, ref1

  Downfall, The (Presser), ref1

  Dutch East Indies, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Dutch society

  character of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12

  demographic changes in, ref1

  history curriculum in, ref1, ref2

  immigration to. See immigrants and immigration

  Islam and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  as moral beacon, ref1

  pillars of, ref1, ref2

  postwar generation, ref1, ref2, ref3

  progressivism of, ref1

  religious freedom in, ref1

  Eddaoudi, Ali, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Ede, ref1, ref2

  Elias, Norbert, ref1

  Ellian, Afshin, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  elqalem.nl, ref1, ref2

  Enlightenment, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  Hirsi Ali on, ref1

  Enzensberger, Hans Magnus, ref1n

  Erasmus, Desiderius, ref1

  Eternal Jew, The, ref1

  European-Arab League, ref1, ref2

  European Cup, ref1

  European Union, ref1, ref2, ref3

  European unity, ref1

  Fahmi (Bouyeri’s friend), ref1

  Fatwas on Women (Ibn Taymiyah), ref1

  February Strike, ref1, ref2

  female circumcision, ref1

  Feyenoord, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Fortuyn, Pim, ref1, ref2, ref3

  bitterness of, ref1

  childhood of, ref1

  followers of, ref1, ref2

  funeral of, ref1, ref2

  as greatest Dutch figure, ref1

  homosexuality of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  house of, ref1

  immigration, views on, ref1, ref2

  Islam and, ref1

  on leadership, ref1

  manner and appearance of, ref1

  murder of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  political background of, ref1

  political career of, ref1, ref2

  statue of, ref1

  Van Gogh and, ref1, ref2, ref3

  writings of, ref1

  Forum, ref1, ref2, ref3

  France, EU and, ref1, ref2

  Frank, Anne, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  freedom of speech, ref1, ref2

  Friendly Conversation, A, ref1

  Friends of Theo, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  Gans, Evelien, ref1

  German occupation, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  resistance to, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Germany, soccer matches against, ref1

  Glen Mills, ref1

  Gogh, Anneke van, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  Gogh, Johan van, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Gogh, Theo van, ref1, ref2

  abusive criticism and, ref1

  appearance of, ref1

  cactus and, ref1

  career of, ref1

  celebrity of, ref1

  childhood of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Christianity and, ref1, ref2

  on Cohen, ref1

  Cohen and, ref1

  el-Hamchaoui and, ref1

  family of, ref1

  films of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8. See also specific films

  Fortuyn and, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Funda and, ref1

  Hirsi Ali and, ref1, ref2, ref3

  irony and, ref1

  Islam/Muslims and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Jews and, ref1, ref2

  memorials to, ref1, ref2

  memories of, ref1

  murder of. See murder of van Gogh

  personality and character, ref1

  political affiliation of, ref1

  security of, ref1, ref2

  on Submission, ref1, ref2

  talk show of, ref1, ref2

  U.S. and, ref1

  writings of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Gogh, Theo van (great-great-grandfather), ref1

  Gogh, Theo van (uncle), ref1, ref2

  Gogh, Vincent van, ref1

  Graaf, Volkert van der, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Green/Left Party, ref1

  Groningen University, ref1

  guest workers, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Hague, The, ref1, ref2

  Haider, Jörg, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Hals, Frans, ref1

  Hamchaoui, Farhane el-, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  Happy Chaos debate, ref1

  Hazes, André, ref1

  headscarves, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Healthy Smoker, The (van Gogh), ref1, ref2, ref3

  Heine, Heinrich, ref1

  Herben, Matt, ref1

  Herman (Fortuyn’s butler), ref1

  Hermans, W. F., ref1, ref2

  Herwaarden, Clemens van, ref1

  Het Parool, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Heutsz, J. B. Van, ref1

  Hirsi Ali, Ayaan, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  as asylum seeker, ref1, ref2

  atheism of, ref1

  attempted forced marriage of, ref1, ref2

  battered Muslim women and, ref1, ref2

  Bouyeri and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Bouyeri’s death threat to, ref1, ref2

  childhood of, ref1, ref2

  on Cohen, ref1

  early idealism of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  early jobs of, ref1, ref2

  on the Enlightenment, ref1

  eviction of, ref1

  film of. See Submission

  Funda on, ref1

  Haweya Hirsi Ali and, ref1

  headscarves, view on, ref1

  Islam and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9. See also Submission

  the Left and, ref1

  loathing of, ref1

  murder of van Gogh and, ref1

  personality and character of, ref1

  Philipse and, ref1, ref2

  political affiliation of, ref1

  political career of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  rap about, ref1, ref2

  security of, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  on sexuality, ref1

  on Submission, ref1

  threatened deportation of, ref1

  U.S. and, ref1

  Van Gogh and, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Verdonk and, ref1

  Hirsi Ali, Haweya, ref1, ref2

  Hoffman, Thom, ref1, ref2

  Hofstad Group, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Holman, Theodor, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Holocaust, ref1
, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  Huguenots, ref1

  Huizinga, Johan, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Ignatieff, Michael, ref1

  immigrants and immigration, ref1, ref2. See also guest workers; Muslims, European; specific groups

  crime and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  female, ref1, ref2

  Fortuyn’s views on, ref1, ref2

  hard line on, ref1

  Holocaust, lessons from, ref1, ref2

  inequalities among, ref1

  Mak on, ref1

  male, ref1

  mental health problems of, ref1, ref2

  neighborhoods of. See dish cities

  rivalry among, ref1

  to U.S., ref1

  welfare state, reliance on, ref1

  Indonesia, ref1, ref2, ref3

  In Praise of Conservatism (Spruyt), ref1

  Internet

  debate among Muslims on, ref1

  dish cities. See dish cities

  global revolutionary movement based on, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Internet Phonehouse, ref1

  Interview, ref1

  In the Hell of the Tournantes (Belil), ref1

  Iran, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Iraq, U.S. involvement in, ref1, ref2

  irony, ref1, ref2

  Islam and Islamism. See also Muslims, European

  Bouyeri and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10

  democracy and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  diversity of, ref1, ref2

  Dutch society and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  European political empowerment of, ref1

  as European religion, ref1, ref2

  Fortuyn and, ref1

  Hirsi Ali and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9. See also Submission

  law of. See Shariah

  modern, ref1

  Muslim critics of. See Ellian, Afshin; Hirsi Ali, Ayaan

  Saudi tradition of, ref1

  sense of identity and, ref1

  sexuality and, ref1

  Shiism, ref1

  Sunnis, ref1

  Takfir doctrine, ref1, ref2

  Turks and, ref1

  Van Gogh and, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  violence against women in, ref1

  violence of, ref1, ref2

  Western clash of values with, ref1, ref2

 

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