A massive 198 people were arrested in Rotterdam on Saturday for wanting to protest against racist character Zwarte Piet. Among them were GroenLinks councilor Simion Blom, lawyer Michiel Pestman and activist Jerry Afriyie. According to newspaper AD, the people arrested belong to action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet. The police stopped the bus carrying the …
Read the full post →“Dutch police arrest 200 protesters against racist “Black Pete” festival”
A fire broke out at a planned mosque building in the city of Culemborg in central Netherlands on Wednesday. The Dutch police and Muslim community believe that the fire was deliberately started by an arsonist, media sources said. The fire reportedly started at the pool and spread to the whole building, leading to substantial damages. …
Read the full post →“Police suspect arson at mosque fire in Netherlands”
Three high-ranking European Union leaders failed to use the word of “terror” while condemning deadly attacks near a football stadium in Istanbul. Two explosions rocked the Besiktas district of Istanbul late Saturday when a car bomb was detonated two hours after the end of a Turkish football league match between Besiktas and Bursaspor. Moments later …
Read the full post →“EU officials avoid ‘terror’ condemning Istanbul attacks”
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has published an open letter to the country’s citizens ahead of elections in March, telling anyone who cannot respect its customs to leave. People who “refuse to adapt, and criticise our values” should “behave normally, or go away”, Rutte said in a full-page newspaper message seen as a bid …
Read the full post →“Netherlands PM says those who don’t respect customs should leave”
The political group Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), which consists of representatives of several populist and anti-immigration parties including Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the French National Front, is holding a convention in the western German city of Koblenz on Saturday. The ENF is the smallest group in the European Parliament, with 40 …
Read the full post →“Europe’s far-right leaders gather in Germany, say 2017 will be their year”
the brutal attacks on Dutch-Turks and journalists and the banning of a Turkish minister by the Netherlands, the European Union and NATO have refrained from criticizing their member state and called for dialogue to overcome the tension. In a joint statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, the …
Read the full post →“NATO, EU refrain from responding to Dutch scandal, call for calm”
While Europe has been busy fretting about Russian meddling in its politics, a few Americans have been quietly doing their part to boost the continent’s far right. Wealthy American conservatives have poured large sums into the electoral campaign of far-right leader Geert Wilders of the Netherlands’ Dutch Freedom Party, in support of his anti-Islam, anti-EU …
Read the full post →“The Dutch far right’s election donors are almost exclusively American”
The majority of Turkish citizens living abroad supported the constitutional changes with the “yes” campaign garnering 75 percent of the vote in Belgium, 73 percent in Austria, 71 percent in the Netherlands, 65 percent in France and 63 percent in Germany. The voter turnout for citizens living abroad was 48 percent with 1.4 million having …
Read the full post →“Anti-Turkey rhetoric backfires: Turks in Europe vote ‘yes'”
A Dutch retailer has withdrawn from its stores a children’s colouring book that featured Adolf Hitler, complete with Nazi salute and a Swastika on his arm. Kruidvat, which sells household goods, said on Facebook that it “deeply regretted this incident”. It described the image, appearing in two different colouring books themed around football and castle …
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Dutch lawmakers have voiced opposition to a proposal by Amsterdam’s top police official to consider allowing female Muslim agents to wear headscarfs, Dutch media reported Friday. At least six major political parties are against plans from Commissioner Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg to introduce Islamic headscarves to women’s uniforms as part of a recruitment drive to diversify law …
Read the full post →“Dutch lawmakers oppose allowing Muslim policewomen to wear headscarves”
