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More hopeful signs that the Dutch are turning against Moslem immigrants
Here is a long article (extending over several web pages) from the Times of London tracing the radical shift of opinion vis à vis Moslem immigrants that has occurred in the Netherlands over the last couple of years. I have tended to be a bit skeptical about all these reports of Europeans becoming less liberal about Moslem immigration, because, when their change of mind has been caused, not by their grasp of a non-liberal principle, but only by their experience of a traumatic event such the 9/11 attack or the slaughter of Theo van Gogh, it can easily revert, after some time has passed, to the usual liberalism. Also, an emotion-driven opinion will not give people the conviction to help them stand firm in their new outlook when it is challenged.
However, there was one piece of information in this article that brought a smile of hope to my face: “A recent poll found 80% in favour of stronger measures to get immigrants to integrate—and 40% said they ‘hoped’ Muslims ‘no longer feel at home here’.” The first part of that sentence represents, of course, your standard liberal response: no matter how bad immigration-related problems become, good liberals—and conservatives—automatically call for greater efforts to assimilate the immigrants. But the fact that 40 percent of Dutchmen hope that Moslems no longer feel at home in the Netherlands represents a true abandonment of the liberal immigration mentality. This is exactly what is needed. We don’t want greater efforts to assimilate the unassimilables. We want them not to feel at home here, so that they will leave. Email entry |