Thursday, February 27, 2014

Moroccan Children Terrorize Supermarket

In the town of Helmond, Moroccan children of 10 and 11 years old are acting provocatively and intimidating the public. They terrorize local businesses. The Aldi supermarket is now considered a free haven for theft. The manager of the supermarket said that aid organizations have to give help to his employees. They are afraid of revenge when they call the police. He also told the municipal council that the criminality is on the increase. The mayor said that he found the story shocking. More policemen will be brought in and security cameras will be installed. www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/binnenland/2014/02/helmond-bang-voor-jong-marokkaans-tuig

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Friends of Deposed Ukrainian President Hide Money via the Netherlands

Daria Kaleniuk, Director of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, has told the Dutch Press Bureau (ANP) that prominent rich Ukrainian friends of deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Janoekovitsj hide money via Dutch post box firms. She mentioned that for instance, the son of the President, Alexander Janoekovitsj has two such firms in the Netherlands. She said that the money is probably not in the Netherlands, but has been transferred via these firms to other places, such as the island of Jersey, for instance. www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/22331814/___Nederland_brievenbus_rijken___.html

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Eleventh Dutch Jihadist Dies in Syria

The eleventh Dutch Jihadist has died in Syria. Abu Hamza is of Dutch-Moroccan origin. According to the latest data of the National Coordinator of the fight against Terrorism and Security (NCTV), more than a hundred Dutch jihadists have gone to Syria and 70 are still fighting. More than twenty jihadists have returned to the Netherlands. According to the NCTV, they are potential time bombs. Those whose names are known, no longer receive social welfare payments. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/2014/article/print/detail/3603144/Opnieuw-Nederlandse-jihadist-omgekomen.dhtml

Monday, February 24, 2014

Great Increase in “Domestic” Booze Facilities

Legislation which forbids serving alcohol to youngsters under the age of 18 has led to the emergence of a large number of sheds in gardens where youngsters drink alcohol without supervision. There is no control over this. Café owners in a variety of communities say that this may become a huge problem. The Dutch Association of Hotels and Coffee shops (KHN) already expressed fears about this last year. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3601072/2014/02/21/Zuipketen-veroveren-Nederland.dhtml

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Minister: Threats against Municipal Council Members are Intolerable

Recently it became known that one third of the members of municipal councils in the Netherlands are confronted with aggression and violence. Ten percent of them considered quitting. Ronald Plasterk (Labor) Minister of the Interior said, “This is intolerable.” He told Parliament that he will discuss the matter with his colleague of Security and Justice. He does not intend to make money available for this issue, as it should come out of the budget of the municipalities. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/3599364/2014/02/18/Plasterk-bedreiging-van-raadsleden-niet-te-tolereren.dhtml

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Death Threat against Founder of Islamic Party

There are strong disagreements in the Orthodox Islamic Party of the Unity (Partij van de Eenheid) in The Hague. One of its founders, former secretary Muhammet Yilmaz, an imam has been removed by the chairman from the board and been replaced by the chairman’s female cousin. A male cousin of the chairman was already chairman of the board. Yilmaz has told the migrant broadcaster Demet TV that he has received a death threat. The party is also in the media because of its municipal council member Arnoud van Doorn. He is a former member of the populist Freedom Party and has recently been condemned for selling drugs to minors. www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/22309521/__Heibel_binnen_moslimpartij__.html

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Fines for Railway Companies Due to Poor Service

The Dutch railways NS have been given a temporary fine of 2.75 million Euro by Deputy Minister Wilma Mansveld of Infrastructure because they did not improve as far as punctuality, seats in rush hours and availability of service personnel in 2013. The temporary fine of last year of the same amount, has become a definite one. Also the infrastructure company ProRail, was given a temporary fine of 1.5 million Euro because it hasn’t improved its performance as far as punctuality of passenger and cargo lines are concerned. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3599782/2014/02/19/Miljoenenboetes-voor-NS-en-ProRail.dhtml

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Students Take College to Court for Dubious Teaching

A group of students and former students of the Inholland College claim through the court tens of thousands of Euros of college fees back. They studied in a dubious program for media and entertainment management (MEM). The course was attacked when it became clear that the college was handing out diplomas too easily and thereafter, the board of the college resigned. www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/binnenland/2014/02/studenten-willen-geld-zien-van-inholland

Monday, February 17, 2014

Fraud School in Rotterdam Costs Government Millions of Euros

The theft of 27 final exams at the Muslim Ibn Ghaldoun school in Rotterdam in 2013 has cost the government 3 million Euro. It led to the bankruptcy of the school, its closure, and the firing of 50 employees. The Ministry of Education lost 1.8 million Euro and the Rotterdam Municipality 1.2 million Euro. Furthermore, the ministry and the municipality have to spend an additional 1.2 million Euro over two years in the new school established. This was said by former chairman of the school Ayahn Tonca and the rector Bart Renders. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3598004/2014/02/16/Examenfraude-Ibn-Ghaldoun-kost-Rijk-3-miljoen-euro.dhtml

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Former Dutch Prime Minister Murdered

The body of former Deputy Prime Minister Els Borst has been found by neighbors in her home. She was murdered. Though the police remain silent about the damage done to her body, it has become known that her nose was no longer discernible due to the beatings and her knuckles were broken. A large number of detectives are investigating the murder. www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/22303408/__ME_begint_onderzoek_Borst__.html

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Complaint against Anti-Israel Website Regarding Anti-Semitism

The Center for Information and Documentation about Israel (CIDI) has jointly with the monitoring point for discrimination on the internet, put in a police complaint against the anti-Israel website Stop de Bezetting (Stop the Occupation). On this website insulting texts about Jews are published under the title: The Jewish Hand behind Internet, Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, MySpace, Ebay. The article claims that Jews have penetrated the internet with as purpose to dominate information and to control it. The article is illustrated with pictures of Jews, which, according to the website are part of the internet conspiracy. www.cidi.nl/cidi-doet-aangifte-tegen-stop-de-bezetting-update/

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Government Official: Close Islamic Radio Station Down

The National Coordinator for the Fight against Terrorism and Security (NCTV) has said that the Islamic radio station Ghurabaa should be closed down because it broadcasts “jihadic ideas.” The radical preachers might incite Dutch youngsters to travel to Syria. Among those preachers’ broadcasts is the late terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, who, because of his blog and Facebook page, is often called “the Bin Laden of the internet.” The NCTV sent an email to the provider who has passed it on to the radio station, which has put its text on its website. The NCTV calls it embarrassing that the text was published. Radio Ghurabaa writes that the NCTV tries to demonize it. www.elsevier.nl/Nederland/nieuws/2014/2/Nationaal-terrorismebestrijder-islamitische-radiozender-moet-uit-de-lucht-1460794W/

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Minister Already Knew in November that he had Misinformed Parliament

From a reply to questions from Parliament, it becomes clear that Minister of the Interior, Ronald Plasterk already knew in November 2013 that he had misinformed Parliament about the collection of telephone data by the American Intelligence Service NSA. He had falsely stated that it wasn’t the Dutch intelligence services which had collected data on 1.8 million telephone conversations. Three weeks before that, he had already declared on television that the Dutch intelligence services had nothing to do with this collection. In November, he and the minister of defense knew for sure that the Dutch intelligence services were responsible. Still, they did not inform Parliament, but were recently forced to do so after a group of citizens brought a court case against them. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/02/10/plasterk-wist-al-in-november-over-verkeerde-informatie-onderschepping-telefoongegevens/

Monday, February 10, 2014

Moroccan Woman who Opens a Wine Bar Receives Death Threats

Elou Akhiat, a Moroccan woman who opened a wine bar in Rotterdam received death threats. In view of the extreme character of some of the threats, police are following the affair closely. Last year, Dutch columnist Ebru Umar published a critical column about freedom of opinion in Turkey. She received thousands of death threats. www.metronieuws.nl/nieuws/marokkaanse-met-dood-bedreigd-om-wijnbar/SrZnbj!VBJZuHtQdn4W2/

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Wall Street Journal: Dutch Amusement Park Racist

A journalist from the Wall Street Journal said that the major Dutch amusement park Efteling has racist attractions in which people with dark skin are presented negatively. She mentioned in particular a merry-go-round called Monsieur Cannibale which has an enormous black figure with a chef’s cap and a large spoon through his nose. The journalist said that it reminded her of the initial Dutch colonization of what were the Dutch Indies. These remarks follow last year’s widespread criticism on the figure of Black Pete in the national children’s holiday, Sinterklaas. www.elsevier.nl/Cultuur--Televisie/nieuws/2014/2/Wall-Street-Journal-noemt-attractiepark-Efteling-racistisch-1459583W/

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Minister Admits: We Monitored Huge Number of Phone Calls, Not the Americans

Yesterday, Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk (Labor) and Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis (Liberal) addressed a letter to Parliament which revealed that the Dutch signals organization NSO, had collected data on 1.8 million phone calls, text messages, mail traffic and browsing habits for one month at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. This was done on behalf of the General Intelligence Services (AIVD) and the Military Intelligence Services (MIVD). In October Plasterk had stated that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was responsible for the collection of the data. The letter said that the data was shared legitimately with the U.S. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/06/c_133094298.htm

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

One Hundred and Twenty Thousand People have not made Their Social Security Payments

In the past few years, 120,000 people have not paid their Social Security payments, or paid far less than was due. This number is increasing all the time. Every month the debt grows by 20 million Euro. At present, the total debt of these people is 773 million Euro, to which 180 million Euro of additional costs should be added, which brings the outstanding debt to close to a billion Euro. www.powned.tv/nieuws/binnenland/2014/02/120000_wanbetalers_zorgpremie.html

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Death Threats to Liberals in a Municipality

The Liberal Party (VVD) will not participate in municipal elections in Heemskerk. The regional board of the party has decided this in view of extreme threats against several candidates. One of the candidates received a letter which said: “We know how to find you if you do not withdraw your candidacy. Then we’ll cut off your head.” The party has put in a complaint with the police. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3589491/2014/02/03/VVD-Heemskerk-trekt-zich-terug-uit-raadsverkiezingen-na-bedreigingen.dhtml

Monday, February 3, 2014

Dutch Companies Benefited from Forced Laborers in East Germany

A major study in the archives of the German intelligence service Stasi shows that also various Dutch companies have used the services of political prisoners and forced laborers. Among the companies mentioned are Philips, Shell and the retailers Hema and C&A. Hema has announced that it will research this matter. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2680/Economie/article/detail/3582677/2014/01/23/Gevangenen-DDR-werkten-ook-voor-Nederland.dhtml

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Deputy Minister of Finance Resigns

Deputy Minister of Finance Frans Weekers (VVD Liberal party) has resigned. Weekers had been criticized after tens of thousands of people had not received their social payments in December and January. Weekers had suggested that this was their own fault because they had not answered requests for information for the fiscal authorities. He then had to apologize because it turned out that there were problems within the Fiscal Services wit concerning these payments. Last year he had already been criticized in Parliament as Bulgarian criminal gangs had fraudulently received major payments. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/3586161/2014/01/29/Weekers-treedt-af-om-toeslagenkwestie.dhtml