enru
×
×

Internet platform for studying Xenophobia, Radicalism and Problems of Intercultural communication.

Anti-Xenophobic Rhetoric

Anti-Xenophobic Rhetoric

The leader of the Dutch Green Left Jesse Klaver

In a remarkable statement on discrimination on work market, PM Mark Rutte suggests that the discrimination has to be solved by immigrants themselves: “I can say to the people of the Netherlands, ‘please don’t discriminate, judge people by their knowledge and character.’ But as it occurs, then Mohammed has a choice: Give up because of being offended or carry on. Newcomers have always had to adapt, and have always had to deal with prejudice and discrimination. You have to fight.”

In the aftermath of the terrorist attack at Charlie Hebdo, The Dutch Vice Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher (Labour Party) criticized Wilders hate propaganda and stated that the justified anger about the attacks in France must not be directed at “the cashier at a super market, the neighbor, or the mosque around the corner.”

Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam called on Muslims to actively repudiate fundamentalism . “If you don't like the freedom [we enjoy in the Netherlands], for heaven's sake, pack your suitcase and leave,” he said in an interview with the Dutch television news broadcaster NOS. “If you can't handle it here, because you can't handle humorists who put out a newspaper—well, let me put it this way: piss off.”

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Marcouch reaction on Twitter, after anti-Semitic stickers were found on shops in a heavily Jewish suburb of the Dutch capital: “Wrong! Police and prosecutors [to] find and punish Feyenoord hooligans posting ‘Jew stickers’ on shops .”

Lodewijk Asscher (Labour Party) is explicite in both recognizing and condemning discrimination. He admits that “there is discrimination in employment: Jan in the Netherlands makes more job prospects than Mohammed,” and insists on a joint approach by government, employers and workers to prevent future discrimination, including ‘naming and shaming’. Asscher emphasizes that discrimination often goes hand in hand with segregation and racist stereotyping in media.

The official governmental website of the Netherlands published the statement against anti-Semitism, by foreign minister Bert Koenders ‘We must never give up the fight against racism and anti-Semitism. We owe that to the millions of people who died in the Holocaust in Nazi extermination camps.’ The minister expressed his concerns about growing anti-Semitism in the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe. ‘While it primarily affects Jewish communities, anti-Semitism is a threat to society as a whole,’ he said. He also emphasised how important it is that the international community opposes anti-Semitism, as part of defending shared freedom, security and universal values.

In October 2015, leaders of all major political parties issued a joint appeal calling for an end to threats and intimidation in the debate over refugees.

Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam called on Muslims to actively repudiate fundamentalism . “If you don't like the freedom [we enjoy in the Netherlands], for heaven's sake, pack your suitcase and leave,” he said in an interview with the Dutch television news broadcaster NOS. “If you can't handle it here, because you can't handle humourists who put out a newspaper—well, let me put it this way: piss off.”

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Marcouch reaction on Twitter, after anti-Semitic stickers were found on shops in a heavily Jewish suburb of the Dutch capital: “Wrong! Police and prosecutors [to] find and punish Feyenoord hooligans posting ‘Jew stickers’ on shops .”

The two parties have not adopted nationalistic discourse: D66, pro-European liberals, and GreenLeft. In particular, Jesse Klaver, GreenLeft leader kept a vision of national identity centred on tolerance, openness and internationalism . He endorses an open, fair society: “stand for your principles,” he told voters. “Be straight. Be pro-refugee. Be pro-European”. His message to Wilders: “I want my country back”. In TV debates he told Wilders that Islam wasn’t the problem in Holland, Wilders was.

In June 2020, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with BLM activists and made the following statement: "Clearly, all that we are already doing to fight discrimination and racism is not enough," he said. Rutte acknowledged that racial inequality is not just a problem in the United States. "There are people living in the Netherlands who, because of this, feel that they don't fully fit into society, that they can't play a full role in that society," he said. "This is also a Dutch problem. There's racism here, too. There's discrimination here, too."

In March 2021, DENK MP Tunahan Kuzu said ahead of the election that "hundreds of thousands of foreign-born young people living in this country are treated unequally because of false integration policies," noting that they face discrimination in everyday life, including in finding jobs or renting homes. "We raise our voice so that our third-generation Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese citizens have equal rights. Our role is to voice this everywhere, including in parliament."

Back to list

© 2017 Civic Nation
Created by – NBS-Media