Ehsan Jami – the 22-year old chair of the Dutch committee for ex-Muslims – is in hiding tonight after being attacked again at the weekend. The young Jami (who is also a PvdA councillor for Leidschendam-Voorburg) was beaten up by three men as he left a local supermarket. He has been attacked twice before but has still not received protection.
His friend Afshin Ellian – the renowned columnist and academic from Leiden University – has highlighted Jami’s plight after the weekend attack. Ellian himself is forced to live under 24-hour security because of threats to his life from Islamic fundamentalists.
Holland – which has seen the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh, and the hounding from the country of Ayaan Hirsi Ali – is again at a crucial juncture.
Does a brave young man who says things which some people find controversial deserve protection or not? Does the Dutch state believe that there are better ways to spend money than in protecting freedom of speech? If they do know of a better way to spend their money, would they let us know what it is?
Holland – like Britain – faces important choices, but the Dutch government is once again refusing to face up to the challenge. Who’d have thought memories could be so short?
Comments (3)
Eshan Jami and Afshin Ellian are the tip of the iceberg, in Holland the UK and anywhere elsewhere you can name. They are not hiding from Muslims in general but from vicious and fanatical cliques who are trashing Islam in the eyes of the world. It's time that the Muslim community themselves start to say 'no more'. When all is said and done they are the only people who can really put a stop to this kind of thing.
Posted by RB711 | August 31, 2007 6:08 PM
Posted on August 31, 2007 18:08
I dont know about Holland, but Britain? The country that stood alone against the Nazis?
Oh well, that was may be just a fluke.
Posted by DP111 | August 8, 2007 10:41 PM
Posted on August 8, 2007 22:41
I can think of a better way for the Dutch government to spend its money. Perhaps it could spend it on deporting the people who want to kill people for expressing their opinions.
Posted by Senior | August 8, 2007 8:50 PM
Posted on August 8, 2007 20:50