Dutch "Left" Gives Up on Tolerance

 I have just read this  IHT story about how the Dutch "left" is giving up on its policy of tolerance, and am remembering that when I was in Amsterdam about 10 years ago,  everyone seemed really friendly and inclusive. (Granted, most of the shitty jobs seemed to be held by Indonesians..)  So this article is rather eye-opening. It says that the Dutch used to favor integration of their immigrants but now less than a quarter of them think it's important to do so. Seems they have a history of tolerance but now seem to think they have too many Muslims. I knew something was up when I read recently that 43 coffeeshops were being closed because they were too close to schools. The party's over. From the article:

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the Netherlands had lived through something akin to a populist revolt against accommodating Islamic immigrants led by Pim Fortuyn, who was later murdered; the assassination of the filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, accused of blasphemy by a homegrown Muslim killer; and the bitter departure from the Netherlands of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali woman who became a member of Parliament before being marked for death for her criticism of radical Islam.

Now the Labor Party has issued a position paper calling for the end of the failed model of Dutch "tolerance." It comes at the same time that Nicolas Sarkozy was makes a case in France for opportunities for minorities but also says the French notion of equality "doesn't work anymore." The Dutch language is much stronger, and says, in part:

"The mistake we can never repeat is stifling criticism of cultures and religions for reasons of tolerance."

and that "the grip of the homeland has to disappear" for immigrants, (many of whom never become citizens) and the government should be "bringing our values into confrontation with people who think otherwise."  Moreover: "Integration calls on the greatest effort from the new Dutch. Let go of where you come from; choose the Netherlands unconditionally." Immigrants must "take responsibility for this country" and cherish and protect its Dutch essence.

Finally:

"The success of the integration process is hindered by the disproportionate number of non-natives involved in criminality and trouble-making, by men who refuse to shake hands with women, by burqas and separate courses for women on citizenship."

and

"We have to stop the existence of parallel societies within our society."

This is going to be just lovely - with a recession and lack of jobs and a lot of unskilled workers.  We are the nation who had 9/11.  I don't see this attitude at my local mall or near the mosque in my neighborhood.  When some local tried to ram and gas it, people from other churches guarded it day and night for a month.  I grew up around plenty of Dutch immigrants and they kept their tulips and pastries and alot of them became Republicans!  This is a nation of immigrants and efforts to make everything into white bread and picket fences always fail eventually.  The Dutch are going to find the same thing and I think they should remember some things about tolerance that they were supposed to have learned during World War II! The Dutch history of "tolerance" has been like the American history of "freedom and democracy" and these ideals seem to be dying out.