By Frans Timmermans

I visited Dearborn today, the centre of the Muslim Community in the US. Very impressive. I came to listen and learn, and to share some of my concerns about the lack of real dialogue in Dutch society.

My country has always had minorities. We are good at allowing people to make their own choices but not at dialogue. And that is what the world at this time needs; dialogue.

But today fear has become the driving force in politics. The preferred object of this fear is Islam. Why? People have the feeling they lost control over their lives - there is a lot of insecurity in a fast changing society and globalizing world. There is also widespread pessimism - people fear that their children will be worse off than they themselves. Change, then, is not perceived as a good thing, but rather as a threat.  In Holland, muslins, many of whom are relatively new in society, often exemplify change and thus are seen as a threat to society as we know it. (more…)

By Frans Timmermans:

Freedom of expression. Few concepts have generated more debate in the Netherlands in recent years. America is often considered the Promised Land by the apostles of free speech. They think free speech is truly free in the USA and not restricted in any way. In contrast, they view Europe as a continent where governments capitulate to censorship and where people are being muzzled. Indeed, there are differences which have to do with tradition, experience and history. But it is a lot less black-and-white than people sometimes contend.
In the past two centuries of frequently difficult and extremely painful struggle for emancipation, the Americans have learned that freedom of speech involves much more than the relationship between citizen and state. Americans have learned that freedom of expression only works if citizens are prepared to handle it with caution. Bitter experience has cured the Americans of abusiveness, apparently a virtue in the Netherlands these days. One treats others with respect. People and groups who fail to do so – and there are still plenty of them – place themselves outside social discourse. (more…)