Islam in Europe: In the Casbah of Rotterdam

5/20/2009

(Page 2 of 3)

acknowledge any form of deference toward anyone." All men, but not all women. Enait is well known for his refusal to shake hands with women, and has repeatedly said he would prefer them to wear the burqa. And there are many burqas on the streets of Rotterdam.

The fact that Eurabia has arrived in Rotterdam has been demonstrated by an episode in April at the Zuidplein Theatre, one of the most prestigious in the city, a modernist theater proud of "representing the cultural diversity of Rotterdam." It is located in the southern part of the city, and receives funding from the municipality, headed by a Muslim, the son of the imam Ahmed Aboutaleb. Three weeks ago, the Zuidplein Theatre allowed an entire balcony to be reserved for women only, in the name of sharia. This is not happening in Pakistan or in Saudi Arabia, but in the city from which the Founding Fathers set out for the United States. It was from here that the Puritans disembarked in the Speedwell, which they later exchanged for the Mayflower. This is where the American adventure began. Today, it has legalized sharia.

For a performance by the Muslim Salaheddine Benchikhi, the Zuidplein Theatre agreed to his request to have the first five rows set aside for women only. Salaheddine, an editorialist for the website Morokko.nl, is known for his opposition to the integration of Muslims. The city council has approved this: "According to our Western values, the freedom to live one's own life by virtue of one's convictions is a precious possession." A spokesman for the theater has also defended the director: "It is hard to get Muslims to come to the theater, so we are willing to adapt."

Another man who has been willing to adapt is the director Gerrit Timmers. His words are fairly symptomatic of what Wilders calls "self-Islamization." The first case of self-censorship took place in Rotterdam, in December of 2000. Timmers, the director of the theater group Onafhankelijk Toneel, wanted to stage a performance about the life of Mohammed's wife Aisha. The play was boycotted by the Muslim actors in the company when it became evident that it would be a target for the Islamists. "We are enthusiastic about the play, but fear reigns," the actors told him. The composer, Najib Cherradi, said that he would withdraw "for the good of my daughter."

The newspaper "Handelsblad" gave the story the title "Tehran on the Meuse," the name of the gentle river that passes through Rotterdam. "I had already done three works about the Moroccans, so I wanted to have Muslim actors and singers," Timmers tells us. "Then they told me that it was a dangerous issue, and they could not participate, because they had received death threats. In Rabat, an article came out saying we would end up like Salman Rushdie. For me, it was more important to continue the dialogue with the Moroccans, rather than provoke them. For this reason, I see no problem if the Muslims want to separate the men from the women in a theater."

Let's meet the director who has brought sharia to the Dutch theaters, Salaheddine Benchikhi. He is young, modern, confident, and speaks perfect English. "I defend the decision to separate the men from the women, because here there is freedom of expression and organization. If people can't sit where they want to, that is discrimination. There are two million Muslims in Holland, and they want our tradition to become public, everything is evolving. Mayor Aboutaleb has supported me."

One year ago, the city was buzzing when the newspapers published a letter by Bouchra Ismaili, a Rotterdam city councilman: "Listen up, crazy freaks, we're here to stay. You're the foreigners here, with Allah on my side I'm not afraid of anything. Take my advice: convert to Islam, and you will find peace." Just a walk through the streets of the city, and you know right away that in many neighborhoods you are no longer in Holland. It is right out of the Middle East. In some schools, there is a "room of silence" where Muslim students, who are in the majority, can pray five times a day, with a poster of Mecca, the Qur'an, and a ritual washing before the prayers. Another Muslim city councilman, Brahim Bourzik, wants signs placed in various parts of the city showing the direction to Mecca.

Sylvain Ephimenco is a Franco-Dutch journalist who has been living in Rotterdam for twelve years. For twenty years, he was the "Lib�ration" correspondent in Holland, and is proud of his leftist credentials. "Even though I don't believe in that anymore," he says, welcoming us to his home overlooking one of Rotterdam's little canals. Not far from here is the al Nasr mosque of the imam Khalil al Moumni, who when gay marriage was legalized described homosexuals as "sick people worse than pigs." From the outside, it can be seen that the mosque is more than twenty years old, having been built by the first Moroccan immigrants. Moumni has written a pamphlet that is ...
- - -

Chiesa is a wonderful source on all things Catholic in Europe. It is skillfully edited by Sandro Magister. SANDRO MAGISTER was born on the feast of the Guardian Angels in 1943, in the town of Busto Arsizio in the archdiocese of Milan. The following day he was baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife�s name is Anna, and he has two daughters, Sara and Marta. He lives in Rome.

Keywords:

NEWSLETTERS »

Previous Page 1 | 2 | 3 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 10 Comments

Faye
3 years ago
And this began in Canada, perhaps only 7 years ago. My Prime Minister Harper PLEASE BEWARE!!!
Well I will forward this to his office and pray for the best.
Saul Horowitz I agree with you, perhaps all we can do is pray to our G-d. Yes I am an Anglican but I know you do not write the full name of Him. Blessed be.
Sjaak van der Velden
3 years ago
Mister Meotti has a point, but also makes a lot of factual mistakes in his articles.
He forgets that many immigrants in Rotterdam are not muslims at all but Christian descendants of the slaves who where transported from Africa to the Americas by Dutch vessels. Many problems that arise from immigration in Rotterdam can therefore not be explained from religious differences.
Besides, it is simply not true that in Het Oude Westen most women wear veils or niqabs. Pim Fortuyn wasn't murdered in Amsterdam but in Hilversum.
Of course the Fortuyn statue is not the most beautiful monument in Rotterdam. That honour must go the statue of Erasmus, the Rotterdam born philosopher who criticised the Church of Rome.
I am an atheist who wants that all religions allow me to live my own life as I want to. I also don't like the signs of muslim presence in my beautiful city Rotterdam, but at the same time I have a feeling that the Meotti article has been published by Catholic online for one single reason. Roman Catholics have lost their fierce grip on society and they want to get it back. Muslims are their main competitors, but most people from Marocco or Turkey just want to live their life as they chose, just as I do.
Of course there should be no room for the sharia just like the excommunication to the third degree of one of my relatives by the church of Rome is insane.
All people should be free to live their own lives.

Sjaak, Rotterdam
gsw
3 years ago
Enait was of course practising Taqiyya. One stands at the arrival of the judge to show respect for the LAW. Obviously, since islam has no respect for Dutch Law, it is necessary for him to talk about equality.
Saul Horowitz
3 years ago
Right on the nose!The cowardly Europeans will sooner or later have realized what a terrible, fatal mistake they have made...Farewell,oh Europe!Welcome to Eurabia, contaminated and befouled by Islamofascist filth.You reek of 'green plague', but you can't smell it for your senses are dead, blocked by the stench rising to the heaven from the tops of their slender minarets!Islam is a modern-day fascism,if not even worse than that...Brace up,Good Old Europe for the dark clouds are descending upon thou and you're too blind to respond.You've been ousting Jews,who would promote humanistic values, such as tolerance towards others; they would advance your economy,they'd boost the development of commerce and trade, they contributed to your scientific progress, further adding to your prosperity. But you never liked them and in the name of the so-called democracy you have let those treacherous muslim snakes into your very heart, so don't be surprised if one day it stops beating and a new heart comes to replace it - the one made of rock, impervious and deaf to the moans of your own citizens,who are oppressed-day in, day out by the very democracy you are so damn proud of...Shame on you!Start praying G-d, because there's nothing else you can do...
Paul Sutton
4 years ago
May one be permitted to wonder if this situation would have occurred if the Leonine Prayers (for the protection of Holy Church & the conversion of Russia)had continued to be offered after low Masses.

Wonder what would happen if they were reintroduced ?

Peace & love in Christ brothers & sisters.
From Our Lady`s Land of the Southern Cross.
Saba
4 years ago
http://www.acryforpeace.com/Play_Song.html
Above, a link of a very impressive song; an offer of peace for all Muslims of the world.
PLEASE try it: http://www.acryforpeace.com/Play_Song.html
Saba Koriale
4 years ago
Coptic priest Zakaria Botros fights fire with fire.
Click here, to this site below; to Fr, Zakaria Botros (Coptic preist) personal web site who is now considered enemy # 1 of Islam who has a show (Alhayat TV, life TV 7/24) and his show have about 60 million of Arabic speakers whatchers ever week

http://islam-christianity.net/

Father Zakaria Botros has just been named World Magazine's 2008 "Daniel of the Year," something of a Christian equivalent to Time Magazine's "Man of the Year." I first wrote about the elusive Fr Zakaria here. The unedited World Magazine article is long but well worth the read, as it has many details -- such as the fact that each of Botros' weekly episodes are watched by nearly 60 million Arabic-speakers, the vast majority of which are Muslim.

http://islam-christianity.net/
Ted of Windsor
4 years ago
Muslims Reverence Jesus Christ

�Experience shows us an enormous difference between piety and goodness.� - Blaise Pascal, Pense�s

It is not uncommon for Muslims to proclaim that they have a respect and reverence for Jesus Christ. This is a claim that many Muslims in Western nations will often make, so as to encourage greater "dialogue" and openness toward Islam. Because Jesus Christ is mentioned at various points in the Qur'an, it is said to follow that the Qur'an honors Him. Indeed, Islam acknowledges that Jesus Christ was a prophet, that He was born of a virgin, and even that He was sinless. However, simply giving lip service to these facts does not necessarily mean that Muslims understand the significance of these points, or that they are therefore reverencing the Lord. This is because, in the process of speaking and teaching about Jesus, Islam rejects and denies many truths about the Lord that are of vital importance and that are clearly taught in Scripture. Further, though many Muslims will affirm their reverence for Jesus Christ in theory, it is not uncommon to see Muslims in practice denigrate the Person and name of Jesus as part of more systematic efforts to force Islamic chauvinism upon Christianity and Christians.
http://www.studytoanswer.net/myths_ch4.html
Ted of Windsor
4 years ago
Ten Myths About Islam (Preface)

A wise man named Francis Bacon once said that knowledge is power. Certainly this is true when dealing with foreign, and often hostile, ideologies that confront our Western civilization and way of life. One of these ideologies is Islam. Americans, and Westerners in general, whether Christian or not, are all too often still dangerously ill-informed about Islam. Many people in the West hear and believe the propaganda promoted by various Muslim groups, but fail to search out the facts about the history, theology, and psychology of the Islamic phenomenon.
While knowledge may be power, ignorance can render a person, a nation, or an entire civilization absolutely powerless. It is the intention of this book to dispel ignorance about Islam and to expose it to the light of open and honest investigation. How much does your average Westerner, your average American, your average churchgoer, or your average secularist, know about Islam? How can we sort through the varying images and claims made by and about Islam? What is truth, and what is falsehood, as far as what we are being told about the religion of Islam? Are we being lied to, and if so, then how can we detect these falsehoods and avoid them?
http://www.studytoanswer.net/islam_myths.html
GUn
4 years ago
The Netherlands had lost its direction in the last decades by legalizing all things unrelated to BIBLE. No offense, Islam rules the country right now. Christians in Holland MUST do something about this.

Prev1Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment