Cartoons: The End of Europe’s Tolerance?
March 6, 2006 issue - The world has long looked upon the Dutch as the very model of a modern, multicultural society. Open and liberal, the tiny seagoing nation that invented the globalized economy in the 1600s prided itself on a history of taking in all comers, be they Indonesian or Turkish, African or Chinese.How different things look today. Dutch borders have been virtually shut. New immigration is down to a trickle. The great cosmopolitan port city of Rotterdam just published a code of conduct requiring Dutch be spoken in public. Parliament recently legislated a countrywide ban on wearing the burqa in public. And listen to a prominent Dutch establishment figure describe the new Dutch Way with immigrants. "We demand a new social contract," says Jan Wolter Wabeke, High Court Judge in The Hague. "We no longer accept that people don't learn our language, we require that they send their daughters to school, and we demand they stop bringing in young brides from the desert and locking them up in third-floor apartments." Comment EU-Digest: "Let us put it this way... it's not an end to multiculturalism, but it finally could be an end to being the gravy train for immigrants (not only Muslims), who don't want to work. This readjustment of immigration policies in Europe has now been going on for several years and it is doubtful the cartoons, which were anti-Muslim, had anything to do with it. Contrary to the US, European Governments never do anything instantly or make hasty decisions based on shaky information. They usually deliberate frustratingly long about everything and take long-term decisions. European history has taught us that hasty decisions can have disastrous effects. Integrating large numbers of multi-cultural immigrants will take time, patience, education, and a more liberalized European business environment...but it will happen."
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