Rotterdam: Antillean Parents Give Sons Weapons

A spokesman for the mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb (Labor) has said that there have been a number of cases of Antillean parents giving weapons to their sons so that they will feel safer in the streets. It is common in that community to justify their children carrying weapons. In a number of discussions the mayor has had with the Antillean community, he has asked parents to insist that their children hand in firearms and knives to the police. If not, the police will have to start targeted searching of the youngsters. There are 20,000 Antilleans in Rotterdam, many with little education and poor knowledge of the Dutch language. Criminality among Antillean youngsters is high.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1308668.ece/Rotterdam-Antilliaanse_ouders_geven_zoons_wapens

Wateringen: Moroccans Terrorize Park

A group of more than 20 young Moroccans has been causing continuous problems in the Hofpark in Wateringen. The main problems concern the parking lot which is being used as an illegal race course. According to the LPF Westland party in the municipal council, the problems cannot be solved by youth workers. The faction also claims that the municipality repairs damage quickly in order to create the false image that there are no problems.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5167115/___Marokkaans_tuig_terroriseert_park___.html

Christian Union: Dutch Society May Disintegrate

Gert-Jan Segers, director of the Scientific Institute of the Christian Union, has published a study entitled “Conditions for Peace.” He claims that the Netherlands, and a generation of young Muslims there, are both find ing themselves in an identity crisis. Segers is afraid that Dutch society will disintigrate, and says “we have no shared worldview any more and increasingly meet each other back to back.” He suggests extending a hand to those who want to integrate and defining clear and distinct limitations for those who have evil intentions. The Christian Union, which has six seats in the 150-member Dutch Parliament, is the smallest partner in the current government.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5137577/__Zorgen_binnen_CU_om_moslims__.html?p=26,1

Dutch-Croatian Soccer Game: 38 Hooligans Arrested

Riots took place on Thursday night when the Ajax Amsterdam soccer team played against Dinamo Zagreb. During the riots 38 people were arrested, 23 of them Croats. A hundred thirty other Croats were transported out of Amsterdam by the police because of their causing public disorder. Major police forces had been mobilized in anticipation of such problems.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1306937.ece/Nog_zestien_voetbalhooligans_in_cel

Pekela: Mayor Receives Death Threat

The Mayor of Pekela, Meindert Schollema (Labor) and two aldermen have received death threats. They are now being guarded carefully. The police announced this recently and said that these threats must be treated seriously. The police do not want to release any further information, so as not to hamper the investigation. They are particularly watching the activities of extreme rightists in the area. In the town of Scheemda recently the police terminated a meeting of 35 right wing extremists because the intelligence service AIVD had warned the mayor that it could get out of hand.
www.dvhn.nl/nieuws/noorden/groningen/article5294630.ece/Burgemeester-en-wethouders-Pekela-zwaar-bedreigd

Physical Violence among Animal Activists

Two groups of activists in Zaandam have severely beaten each other up. When seven people belonging to the MDTB group protested against a circus performance with animals, 25 members of the action group Respect for Animals attacked them. The police arrested two people. There are speculations that the background for the fight is political. MDTB is considered a right nationalist movement while Respect for Animals is seen as being extreme leftist.

www.parool.nl/parool/nl/224/BINNENLAND/article/detail/264900/2009/10/19/Dierenactivisten-op-de-vuist.dhtml

Canadian Journalist: Dutch Soccer Players Sold Games

The Canadian investigative journalist Declan Hill claims, on the basis of conversations with sources in the Asian gambling world, that Dutch soccer players have sold games. Chinese gangs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam have bribed them on orders of important gamblers in Asia. Hill has studied corruption in soccer worldwide for the last five years. He will name the Dutch clubs involved in a new book scheduled to appear in 2010. Hill, who studied at Oxford, earlier published a book on the same subject called The Fix.

www.volkskrant.nl/sport/article1306817.ece/Clubs_eerste_divisie_omgekocht

Many Thousands: All Moroccans Should Leave Holland

A group of creative Moroccan Dutchmen has made a short movie called “Head or Tail” (Kop of Munt) showing what would happen if all Moroccans were to leave the Netherlands. Newspapers would no longer be delivered, employees of the social services would have no work, passengers would wait in vain for buses, low-class neighborhoods could be torn down. There was a poll on the website of the film makers, asking: “what would you think if all Moroccans left the Netherlands?” Very quickly more than 10,000 people responded, with the great majority saying “great, I cannot wait.” www.parool.nl/parool/nl/38/MEDIA/article/detail/265184/2009/10/21/Marokkanen-weg-Graag-Ik-kan-niet-wachten.dhtml

Thousand Squatters March against Anti-Squatting Laws

After Parliament decided that squatting will be forbidden in the Netherlands, a demonstration by squatters took place in Utrecht. More than a thousand people marched against the new law. www.parool.nl/parool/nl/224/BINNENLAND/article/detail/265456/2009/10/24/Dansend-protest-tegen-kraakverbod.dhtml

Fifty Sports Hooligans to be Brought to Court

Almost 50 fans of the Cambuur soccer club will appear before the court in Leeuwarden in November. They are among the 69 suspects of rioting after their team’s game on 3 June against Roda JC. A number of them are accused of serious physical violence.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5129783/__Hooligans_Cambuur_voor_rechter__.html

Youngsters: Spend Less on Royal Family

A poll of 2,000 youngsters aged 12-24 regarding possible means of saving money was carried out by NOS Headlines and Top-X. Seventy-five percent wanted to save by cutting the expenses of the royal family. Next in line were bureaucracy, defense and development aid.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5129783/__Hooligans_Cambuur_voor_rechter__.html

“Honor Killing” Shelters are Overflowing

The two shelters for women who fear honor killings are overflowing, thus 70 women could not be accommodated. The Ministry for Housing, Wellbeing and Sport will decide only next year on the possibility of expanding these services. It considers the existing shelters as a trial project.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5130573/__Eerwraakhuizen_overvol__.html?p=15,1

Belgian Politician Threatened by Dutch Muslim Site

Filip Dewinter, leader of the extreme right Belgian Vlaams Belang party, has requested the action of Dutch Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrats) against a Dutch Muslim website which has carried death threats on Dewinter. On the website one can find texts saying that his head should be cut off or that he should be killed. Dewinter says that already in the Netherlands people have been victims of Muslim terror and therefore this should be dealt with rapidly and seriously.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5115899/__Bedreiging_Dewinter_vanuit_NL__.html

Rotterdam Pays Immigrants to Meet Mayor

Moroccans in Rotterdam are being paid if they are willing to talk to Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. The 100-150 participants in meetings receive up to 40 Euro for attendance at the meeting of up to two and half hours. They have the opportunity to tell the mayor about their experiences in the town. Earlier Antilleans received similar payments but, according to the municipality, these are normal reimbursements of expenses.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2891392.ece/Marokkanen_krijgen_geld_voor_gesprek_met_Aboutaleb.html

Multinationals Pay 16 Billion Euro Tax too Little

Professor Geerten Michielse who teaches tax law has undertaken a study on the tax payments of Dutch multinationals. The study, which was undertaken on behalf of the television program Zembla, concluded that, in 2007 the Dutch multinationals paid 16 billion Euro too little tax which equals 2,200 Euro per Dutch family. The TV program Zembla reported that a Norwegian government report has found that The Netherlands is the largest tax haven in the world.
www.volkskrant.nl/economie/article1304594.ece/Belastingdienst_loopt_16_miljard_mis

Amsterdam Police Commissioner Expresses Regrets

Amsterdam Head Police Commissioner Bernard Welten, who had criticized Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen and Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst, has apologized for his remarks in a written statement. The Council of Chief Commissioners had supported Welten’s criticism. Now the chairman Leon Kuijs said that Welten had wanted to put a serious issue on the agenda and that there is a problem between policy making and the real problems on the streets. www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5115328/__Welten_betuigt_spijt_na_interview__.html

Squatters Disturb Meeting of Parliament

The parliament has adopted a new law forbidding squatting. When this was announced, squatters who were on the public tribune started to shout. The chairperson of the parliament Gerdi Verbeet decided to close the session and asked that all parliamentarians leave immediately.
www.refdag.nl/artikel/1439203/Krakers+verstoren+vergadering+parlement.html

Finance Minister: Bankruptcy of bank was unavoidable

Finance Minister Wouter Bos has said that the bankruptcy of the DSB Bank was unavoidable. The bank had too little liquid funds, could not attract any capital, and had claims from angry clients. He added “when a swimmer drowns it is because he cannot swim and not because nobody saved him.”
www.volkskrant.nl/economie/article1305090.ece/Bos_situatie_bij_DSB_Bank_was_onhoudbaar

Court: Intelligence Service Report is Poor

The Arnhem court has recently decided that a report by the General Intelligence Service AIVD on a high police officer must be redone. The three-judge court decided that the report was based too much on hearsay and not objective information. The AIVD has not been sufficiently critical and based itself too much on people who have conflicts with this police officer.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5088183/___AIVD-rapport_moet_over___.html?p=4,1

Socialist Party: Amsterdam Police Commissioner Should Resign

The Socialist Party in Amsterdam is demanding that the town’s head Police Commissioner Bernard Welten resign. The Police Commissioner had said in an interview that he is not given enough opportunity to express publicly the problems of society and how they should be handled. The head of the SP faction in the Amsterdam Municipal Council Remine Alberts said that Welten has shown himself to be incompetent. The police has to do what the politicians want, not the reverse.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5101911/__SP__Welten_moet_opstappen__.html

Oosterhout: Moroccans Terrorize Neighborhood

A group of Moroccan youngsters has been terrorizing the area around the
neighborhood center, the Bunthoef. A firework bomb was thrown through the window of the building last week. Two days later fireworks were thrown through the window of 81-year old woman’s home. Volunteers of the neighborhood center have to be protected by security personnel when they close the center at night. Last month there was arson at the center. In a recent burglary equipment valued at 50,000 Euro was stolen.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5072668/__Marokkanen_terroriseren_wijk_O_hout__.html

Amsterdam Police Commissioner: Mayor Hampers my Work

Amsterdam Head Police Commissioner Bernard Welten has stated that he is being hampered in his functioning by Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen. He said that he is not given enough possibility to express publicly what the problems in society are and how they can be handled. He also criticized Minister of the Interior Guusje ter Horst, who has now been in his position for two and a half years but has never received Welten. He added: “She probably never talks with police people, but only with elected politicians.”
www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2389462.ece/Welten_ik_heb_last_van_Cohen

Rotterdam: Systematic Cost Overrun on Computer Projects

The Rekenkamer Rotterdam, the town comptroller office, has published a report showing that the Rotterdam municipality has inefficient control of its computer projects. Thus the costs of these projects are always over and above what was budgeted. There is no independent supervision of policies and projects in this field. The municipality doesn’t check the reliability of the information. Its proposed improvements are inadequate.
www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2385603.ece/Rekenkamer_Rotterdam_heeft_geen_grip_op_ict-projecten

Court: Intelligence Service Illegally Tapped Phones

The Amsterdam court has determined that the General Intelligence Service AIVD broke the law of freedom of press by tapping the phones of journalists of the Telegraaf daily. Tapping, following and observance of journalists is illegal. The court decided that both the AIVD and the Dutch state have been unable to show that security of the state or the function of the intelligence service has been endangered by publication of information. Minister of the Interior Guusje ter Horst (Labor) had personally given permission to the AIVD to listen to phone calls of Telegraaf journalists.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5060218/__Telegraaf_wint_afluisterzaak__.html

Intelligence Service Warning about Asylum Radicals

The Dutch General Intelligence Service AIVD has issued a warning regarding the increase in violence by extremist opponents of the detention and expulsion of foreigners. The number of incidents they cause has increased in recent years and they have become more and more aggressive. Their targets are all involved in one way or another with aiding the government’s policy. This can be government services, construction companies or architects. Even the firm which supplies toilet paper to the Ministry of Justice has been targeted. The actions include vandalism and arson.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2885760.ece/AIVD_waarschuwt_voor_asielactivisme.html

Rotterdam High School Forbids Head Covering

It has only now become public knowledge that the Citycollege St. Franciscus High School in Rotterdam has forbidden head coverings at the school since the beginning of the 1990s. Among the 700 pupils 94% are non-Western immigrants. Catholic students are only allowed to wear a cross under their clothes. Zeki Arslan of the Multi-Cultural Institute Forum reacted to this information, saying that it won’t be long before a Moroccan or Turkish businessman might say to a woman employee: “I don’t like your blond hair. If you want to work here, you’ll have to dye it.”
wwwnrc.nl/binnenland/article2383775.ece/Op_het_Citycollege_is_een_hoofddoek_verboden.

Declining Sympathy for Royal Family

In a poll taken by the TNS NIPO firm on behalf of the EO radio station program “Blue Blood,” it was found that among 37% of Dutchmen, sympathy for the royal family has declined. This is due to a great extent to bad publicity concerning Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima’s holiday villa in Mozambique and public debate on the income of the royal family. According to 72% of the 800 people interviewed, Queen Beatrix should have suggested freezing her income. Ninety percent think that the royal family should pay income tax like all other citizens.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2883123.ece/Onderzoek__sympathie_voor_Oranjes_afgenomen.html

Criminal Youngsters Terrorize Prisons

The personnel of the youth prisons in Breda and Zutphen is in danger as some criminal youngsters jailed there, terrorize the institutions. The ministry of Justice has confirmed that last year personnel frequently lost control. Last week in the Zutphen jail a criminal chased an employee with a knife. The director of the institution said that from time to time personnel members are beaten.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/4973607/__Jongeren_terroriseren_jeugdgevangenis__.html

Moroccan Youngsters Terrorize Roermond

The police, the Justice Department and the municipality of Roermond appeal to the public in order to help end the terror of a group of mainly Moroccan hooligans. These are causing already for a long time problems in the Donderberg neighborhood. Liberal municipal counselor Bert Achten said “we are loosing our grip on the public domain.” He compared Roermond to Gouda where the authorities had lost control. The police said that many people fear to be informers and suggested they provide information anonymously
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5011094/__Roermond_vreest_tweede_Gouda__.html

Minister Criticizes Amsterdam about Busses for Muslims

Eberhard van der Laan, minister of Integration (Labor Party) has criticized the Amsterdam municipality because special busses were made available for Muslims on Id al Fitr, which coincided with the car free Sunday. Several parliamentarians have expressed their criticism about this discriminatory policy of the neighborhood council Bos en Lommer. Kees van der Staaij of the Christian SGP party said that Christians who wanted to visit churches were not given any busses. Van der Laan remarked that it would have been better not to have the car free Sunday coincide with Id al Fitr, as the problems were foreseeable.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article2877103.ece/Minister__Suikerfeestbusjes_niet_verstandig.html

Violence against Mayors Increases

Almost seventy percent of the mayors and aldermen of Dutch cities have been confronted in 2008 with violence, intimidation or threats. This is an increase of ten percent over 2006. Minister of the Interior Guusje ter Horst (Labor) said this at the annual congress of the Association of Dutch Mayors. She announced that a hot line will be opened for mayors and aldermen to assist them in such situations.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1297090.ece/Toename_geweld_tegen_plaatselijke_bestuurders?service=Print

Afghanistan: Civilian Deaths after Dutch Bombardment

A spokesman of the British soldiers in Afghanistan has said that two women, six children and four Taliban have been killed by a bombardment carried out by a Dutch F 16 pilot in the province of Helmand. General van Uhm, the Chief commander of the Dutch army has said” “It is very sad that there are victims in part due to the behavior of the Taliban.” According to the United Nations 1013 civilians have been killed in the country in the first half of 2009. The foreign forces have caused 30 percent of these casualties.
www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2375595.ece/Burgerdoden_na_aanval_F-16_Afghanistan

Police Inspector: Amsterdam Flooded with Romanian Criminals

Inspector of Police Hans Maasdam says that Amsterdam has been flooded for years with Romanian criminals. He says that it is impossible to fight against the fraud in credit cards unless the police, justice department and Interpol collaborate more closely. There are also problems with Romanian pickpockets, human traffickers and burglars. Since Romania became a member of the EU and there are no longer border controls, it has become increasingly difficult to deal with this issue. Maasdam has been the contact officer between the Netherlands and Romania on these matters for the last five years.
www.parool.nl/parool/nl/7/MISDAAD/article/detail/262852/2009/09/26/Roemeense-criminelen-zijn-ontstuitbaar.dhtml