Sunday, March 18, 2007

The silent riots

If you've been tuning into the mainstream media for the past week you wouldn't have heard the following news. There have been riots by the Dutch in the suburb of Ondiep in Utrecht.

Ondiep is a working-class suburb with a population that is roughly 70% Dutch. Locals have complained to the police about harassment and intimidation by groups of Moroccan and Turkish youths, but no effective action was taken.

Last Sunday, a 54-year-old local man, Rinie Mulder, witnessed a pregnant woman being harassed and intervened. He either took a knife or wrestled one from one of the youths. When the police arrived he raised the knife and was shot dead.

There followed two nights of rioting by the Dutch in which riot police were stoned, a former police station was set on fire and windows were smashed. 135 rioters were arrested and the suburb has been locked down by police.

After the riots, Ondiep residents organised a march to commemorate Rinie Mulder which was attended by 2000 people. They have also established their own protection group, reportedly 200 strong.

Significantly, the police and local authorities are supporting the formation of the protection group.

Conclusions? First, it's notable that these events have taken place in Holland, a country thought of as a model of the modern liberal state. If things aren't working out well there, there's little chance they will elsewhere. (Who would have thought of the Dutch rioting 20 years ago?)

Second, it's also noteworthy that the police aren't able to cope with the kinds of problems associated with multiculturalism. Rinie Mulder had rung the police to complain about harassment 30 times before he took things into his own hands. We saw this too in the case of Cronulla when there were complaints that police hadn't tackled Lebanese harassment of locals.

Third, what will happen if the EU admits Turkey as a member? Won't the kind of problems occurring in Holland become more widespread and more difficult to contain?

Finally, why is the mainstream media missing in action? As far as I know, I'm the only Australian "media outlet" to report on the riots. In fact, if it weren't for a Dutch blogger, Snouck Hurgronje, it's possible that the news wouldn't have travelled as far as it has.

6 comments:

  1. I first saw this mentioned at Fulham Reactionary - who mentioned his sources as Brussels Journal and Klein Verzet. In addition, Klein Verzet at the end of his post has links to other web journals covering the story if you want more information.

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  2. Outlaw Mike from the Downeast Blog has a good report on this. He does some really good work over there.

    link

    He dispels some of the mythology around this incident too, according to his post.

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  3. nilknarf is me, by the way. I really don't like blogger2 or whatever it is.

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  4. Also reported on Oz site Winds of Jihad:

    http://sheikyermami.com/2007/03/15/the-dutch-revolt-utrecht-ethnic-riots-after-dutchman-is-killed-by-police/

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  5. Sydney radio broadcaster Jim Ball now has the article on his website. He keeps up with this stuff pretty well. I've lost much sleep staying up past midnight to listen to his program.

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