New Dutch Minister a Moroccan

[Menydh]

Dutch Cabinet Gets Its First Muslims

The Guardian
February 21, 2007

As a city councilman, Ahmed Aboutaleb, the son of a Moroccan clergyman, helped immigrants find jobs, put their toddlers in school to learn Dutch and doled out stern advice: integrate or leave.

On Thursday, Aboutaleb is being sworn in as a junior minister in the Dutch Cabinet. Joining him will be Nebahat Albayrak, a Turkish-born member of parliament. They are the first Muslims to reach the inner core of political power in the Netherlands, and are among only a few immigrants to rise to even second-rung Cabinet positions in Western Europe.

Albayrak and Aboutaleb are among immigrants who call themselves the "New Dutch.'' Many have worked their way up in politics or business at a time when some doubt the Netherlands can comfortably absorb its Muslim minority.

They comprise a counterpoint to the alienated immigrant underclass in the Netherlands, the squalid neighborhoods ringing French cities and the Muslim terror cells being uncovered throughout Europe.

At the same time, their rarity highlights how hard it is to break into what some immigrants see as an exclusive network of the native elite. About 1 million of Holland's 16 million people are from families of Muslim background, and they still struggle to enter the professional ranks.

Aboutaleb, the incoming deputy minister for social affairs, and Albayrak, the deputy minister of justice, are among the most visible successes in a nation troubled by failure. The Netherlands is setting the example,'' said Sadik Harchaoui, a Moroccan who heads the national Institute of Multicultural Development.

"This is the moment when Dutch citizens of migrant backgrounds can take these kind of jobs, not only in government but in business,'' he said.

But he said there is a long way to go. "In 15 to 20 years it will be a normal thing.''

While statistics are difficult to come by, Muslim integration does appear to be happening in many areas of the Netherlands.

In Dutch municipal elections last year, the number of city council members from Turkey and Morocco, the Muslim countries with the largest populations in the Netherlands, grew by 62 percent, to 223 from 139, according to a Dutch research group. Immigrants from those countries in the 150-seat national parliament rose to seven from five.

Aboutaleb and Albayrak belong to the Labor Party, which draws a disproportionately large immigrant vote in national and local elections.

Albayrak, 38, came from Turkey with her six siblings when she was 18 months old. Her parents moved to the Netherlands to work and intended to return to Turkey after their children were educated. They never did.

She joined the Labor Party while a university student, earned a degree in international law and was elected to parliament in 1998. In last November's elections, she was placed second on the list of candidates after the party leader.

Aboutaleb, 45, left Morocco at age 15 with his mother and brothers to join his father, who had come to the Netherlands several years earlier. He studied telecommunications and worked as a news broadcaster, but always had political ambitions.

"The frame of reference I left behind was a small house without electricity or running water; a cow, a donkey and a few rocks,'' he says.

Aboutaleb gained attention in 2004 after the Van Gogh slaying. The Amsterdam-born assailant, Mohammed Bouyeri, believed the filmmaker had insulted Islam in his work. Bouyeri pegged a five-page diatribe into Van Gogh's chest with a knife threatening other Dutch leaders, including Aboutaleb, who now has 24-hour police protection.

The day after the murder, Aboutaleb spoke at a mosque about the need for Muslims to become part of Dutch society. "Anyone who doesn't share these values would be wise to draw their conclusions and leave,'' he said.

Swift outreach by Aboutaleb and Amsterdam's Jewish mayor, Job Cohen, to the city's Muslims was credited with keeping a lid on ethnic tensions, which flared in other Dutch cities.

"A lot of people who have trouble finding a job, who have difficulty adapting to this society, think they're not accepted. And sometimes that is the case,'' said Amsterdam councilman Lodewijk Asscher. "To them, it's a very important message that Ahmed Aboutaleb has made it to the national government.''

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States and deadly bombings in London and Madrid, studies have focused on an intensifying clash between Europeans and a flood of immigrants who hold fast to their own cultures. But some say a new reality is emerging, even though many Europeans do not realize it.

Moroccan-born Khalid Boutachekourt, 33, advises corporations on employment practices. He sees people of his age and background moving up as businesses reach out to a new client base of immigrants.

"Diversity at the management level is increasing, and that's a good thing,'' he said. "You see people advance rapidly. They have the advantage of being the first in an establishment that needs new faces and new voices.''


[source]

[Marcus Marulus]

Are they trying to create a new melting pot in the Netherlands?

Multiculturalism and assimilationism, two sides of the same coin...

Or is Netherlands going to be the third Islamic Republic in the world, after Pakistan and Iran? But this time through peaceful, assimilationist means. If that happens, the Dutch will be the only one to blame, because they let it happen.

[svin]

Very sad & frightening news...

[Menydh]

One character trait of the Dutch is that they are a practical people. This is something that they pride themselves on, and even look down upon others who are not. Practical as in "if it is good for business ..." And multiculturalism has been good for business in The Netherlands since quite a few centuries ago.

If that's an inherited character trait or if it comes as a result of Calvinism teachings, I'm still unsure.

[Routasydän]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

One character trait of the Dutch is that they are a practical people. This is something that they pride themselves on, and even look down upon others who are not. Practical as in "if it is good for business ..." And multiculturalism has been good for business in The Netherlands since quite a few centuries ago.

If that's an inherited character trait or if it comes as a result of Calvinism teachings, I'm still unsure.

I'd say this practicality and pride in it is not an exclusively Dutch trait, but one that can be found in most of Northern Europe in my opinion.

[svin]

And in homogenous society (with no immigrants who obviously don't share this opinion but tend to create clans and work in favour of them, not for their own benefit) this is not a bad trait at all. But sadly, these times are gone.

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by svin

And in homogenous society (with no immigrants who obviously don't share this opinion but tend to create clans and work in favour of them, not for their own benefit) this is not a bad trait at all. But sadly, these times are gone.

Once you adopt an attitude according to which everything is allowed if it benefits business and economy, homogeneous country is gone...

[svin]

Yes, that's why such traits are incompatible with nationalist views.

[Menydh]

Prometheus got it right. Notice that I used the word term practical in italics. It is, if you wish, a politically correct term to use. There are other names for it..

[Routasydän]

The outlook applies to other things than business and commerce alone. It is easily compatible with nationalism if it is tempered by ideology and traditional values.

[Menydh]

That's your saying. The results tell of a different story. You speak of traditional values. The truth is that this practicality comes to supersede and to replace any values.

I called it practical and I put it in italics. Now I will stop being politically correct and I'll call it by its name: merchandicism. Everything is on sale, just put it a price.

[Routasydän]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

That's your saying. Yet the results tell of a different story. You speak of traditional values. The truth is that this practicality comes to supersede and to replace any values. I called it practical and I put it in italics. Now I will stop being politically correct and I'll call it by its name: merchandicism. Everything is on sale, just put it a price.

There have been practical Finnish nationalists. Practical doesn't mean compromising on values. And merchandicism? Do you invent these terms yourself?

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by wilpuri

And merchandicism? Do you invent these terms yourself?

Mercantilism falls short of defining the nature of that spirit. Merchandicism is more descriptive.

[Routasydän]

I think we mean different things here. To me practicality (as a national trait Finns, among others, take pride in) is common sense, a down-to-earth approach, nothing more. Pragmatism describes it better, perhaps, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

[Menydh]

And I'm sure that you too know what I mean.

[Caesar Princeps]

Originally Posted by wilpuri

I'd say this practicality and pride in it is not an exclusively Dutch trait, but one that can be found in most of Northern Europe in my opinion.

In fact. I suppose it was caused by Protestantism as hinted by Mynydd.