Amsterdam: Taxi Anarchy – Client Killed by Driver

In Amsterdam a cab driver beat up and killed a potential client at the central Leidseplein taxi station. This station is known as being run by gangster drivers who refuse short fares and quote extremely high prices to potential passengers. If the person then decides not to get into the taxi, these drivers threaten them. Alderman Hans Gerson said that there is an emergency situation in the Amsterdam taxi world. At that particular station Moroccan drivers in particular are causing the problems. Gerson added that “we must immediately deal with this scum.”
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/4331215/__Taxi-anarchie_kost_leven__.html

Minister of Foreign Affairs Attacks Rotterdam Mayor’s Behavior

Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen (Christian Democrat) has severely criticized Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. When Aboutaleb went to Morocco he took the initiative to talk to the Moroccan minister of foreign affairs. The conversation addressed issues such as family law and double nationality. Verhagen called Aboutaleb’s behavior extremely unsuitable and unwise. He has asked his colleague Minister of Interior Guusje ter Horst (Labor) to reprimand the Rotterdam mayor.
www.ad.nl/binnenland/3336844/Verhagen_woedend_over_Marokkoreis_Aboutaleb.html

Cabinet will Investigate Whether there are Shari’a Courts

Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrat) will investigate whether there are Shari’a courts functioning in the Netherlands. Parliament had asked the government to clarify if mosques or imams in the Netherlands are passing judgments on financial or family affairs according to Shari’a law. Hirsch Ballin added that there cannot be a parallel structure in the Netherlands which undermines the Dutch legal system. There are also investigations underway about possible polygamous marriages and Islamic marriages which precede civil ceremonies, another matter which is illegal in the Netherlands.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/4311348/__Onderzoek_naar_shariarechtbanken__.html?p=10,2

Many Amsterdam Children Go to Schools in Developing Countries

Almost 1,200 children from Amsterdam attend schools in countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Ghana. According to the parents, the children can thus keep a better connection with their own culture in these countries and study the Qur’an. The original idea of allowing children to go to school abroad was meant for children who attended schools in neighboring Belgium or Germany. Alderman Asscher (Labor) said that in the future permits will not be given so easily. If these children return to the country they often do not speak correct Dutch and have integration problems.
www.parool.nl/parool/nl/224/BINNENLAND/article/detail/251785/2009/07/03/Amsterdamse-kinderen-niet-op-buitenlandse-school.dhtml

Amsterdam: One of Every Five Hotels has Bed Bugs

The extermination company Rentokil has said that about 20 percent of Amsterdam’s hotels have bed bugs. Hotel companies try to keep this as quiet as possible. A major problem was that last month there was no effective pesticide available, as the permit for the one used previously had expired and no new one had yet been approved.
www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/AMSTERDAM/article/detail/251822/2009/07/04/Een-op-vijf-hotels-heeft-wandluis.dhtml

Wilders: Political Elite Demonizing Me

Freedom Party Leader Geert Wilders has accused members of the Cabinet and the Parliament of demonizing him, and of creating a climate in which a madman might attack him. He mentioned that his party is very successful among homosexuals who daily feel the consequences of the Islamization of the Netherlands. These people do not want the intolerant Netherlands population which the political elite pushes on them.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2806994.ece/Wilders___Elite_radicaliseert__niet_wij_.html

Cells in Police Stations Not Fire Safe

Cells in police stations are often not fire safe. Policemen do not following the rules of fire prevention. A ministerial inspectorate discovered this when it investigated tens of police stations, military police stations at airport and also at train stations.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2805148.ece/_Politiecellen_niet_brandveilig_genoeg_.html