Seeing Past the 'Post-9/11' Framing: the Long Rise of Anti-Islam Politics In

Seeing past the ‘post-9/11’ framing: The long rise of anti-Islam politics in the Netherlands By Ottilie Kate Grisdale A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Arts in European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2015 Ottilie Kate Grisdale Abstract In the early 2000s, anti-Islam parties rose to unprecedented prominence in the Netherlands. Within the Dutch polity, the parties’ mainstream popularity is widely understood as a product of the post-9/11 climate; defined by “Islamist” terrorist attacks throughout Western Europe, and concurrent political discourses on the “crisis” of multiculturalism. Researchers critical of this interpretation have analysed anti-Islam politics in the Netherlands as a product of the post-9/11 security climate. Yet framing anti-Islam politics as ‘post-9/11’, underestimates the long-term presence of anti-Islam politics and disguises systemic issues of minority discrimination that have long plagued Dutch society. In order to ‘see past’ the post-9/11 framing, this paper examines the history of anti-Islam politics within the broader historical context of the Dutch ‘multicultural myth’ and issues of including newcomers into Dutchness since 1945. The curious trend amongst Dutch politicians to circulate anti-Islam politics through independently released books/films is explored and its significance discussed. ii Dedication To my parents, who continue to share with me their eternal delight and curiosity in learning and who teach—through example—the importance of heartfelt hard work and mindful engagement with the social issues that shape our world. And to my dear friend Iefke who in no small terms taught me Dutch, and revealed the untranslatable gezelligheid of the Netherlands, that is worlds away from the subject of this work. iii Acknowledgements A master’s thesis is an inherently collaborative endeavour. I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jennifer Evans for her unwavering support and guidance as this project evolved. Her careful revisions challenged and taught me to write with a clarity that displays confidence in the ideas presented, which is an immeasurable gift. My sincerest thanks also to my secondary reader Professor James Casteel for his generous feedback and our many impromptu discussions of European history that were such a joyous and inspiring part of the research process. A research-travel grant from Carleton’s Centre for European Studies (CES) and the European Union made fieldwork for this project possible for which I am very grateful. Thanks also to my magical friends Reiko Obokata, Steph Perrin, Taylor Heaven and Tom Aagaard for their support and wit. To my mentor Dr. Arne Kislenko and most of all to my mother, life-long editor, and teacher Dr. Janet Chappell, thank you for always reading and listening to even the roughest of ideas and believing this project into fruition along with me every hard-fought step of the way. I am forever grateful to know you. iv Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………. ii Dedication……………………………………………………………………………. iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………... iv Introduction………………………………………………………………………….... 6 Chapter 1. Hidden in plain sight: A literature review of anti-Islam politics in the Netherlands……………………………………………………………………………12 Chapter 2. Research Methods………………………………………………………... 42 Chapter 3. Beyond 9/11: The forgotten history of anti-Islam politics and its relationship to Dutchness……………………………………………………………..57 Chapter 4. Anti-Islam materials: An underestimated component of Dutch “Islamization” politics………………………………………………………………..93 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… 122 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….. 123 v Introduction While working on this thesis I was often asked how, not being of Dutch heritage, I could possibly be interested in Dutch politics. While often meant as a mild tease or a polite inquiry at home in Canada, I thought during my field research trip to the Netherlands this question would go unasked. Yet Netherlanders were often self-effacing and quick to say that Dutch national politics were unremarkable. By way of introduction, Dutch researchers also often note that before the rise of anti-Islam parties during the early 2000s, politics in the Netherlands were dull and stable.1 Perhaps the more exact version of this sentiment is that politics were stable for the Dutch majority. For Dutch minority communities, national politics have never been stable or friendly. Since 1945—the beginning of de-colonization, subsequent post-colonial immigration and increasing cultural diversity within the Netherlands— successive choruses of Dutch politicians have labelled newcomer communities as impossibly alien and incompatible with Dutch society.2 The first wave of post-colonial immigrants came from Indonesia (1945-1960), particularly after the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949).3 In the 1970s, post-colonial immigrants typically came from Surinam and from Antilles in the 1980s.4 Although post-colonial immigrants were routinely problematized by Dutch politicians, because of their historical ties to the Netherlands post-colonial immigrants have been (marginally) more accepted into Dutchness than economic migrant groups from Turkey and Morocco. During the 1960s-1970s, Moroccan 1 See Anderweg and Irwin, Government and Politics of the Netherlands, xiii. 2 Jones, Biology, Culture and ‘Post-Colonial Citizenship’ and the Dutch Nation, 1945-2007, In Dutch Racism 315, 317 (Philomena Essed and Isabel Hoving eds., Rodopi B.V, 2014). 3 Bosma, Introduction, In Post-colonial immigrants and identity formations in the Netherlands 7, 9 (Ulbe Bosma ed., Amsterdam University Press, 2012). 4 Ibid, 10. 6 and Turkish settlers came to the Netherlands through what was to be the temporary “guest workers” program. Moroccan and Turkish newcomers were often seen as ‘orientalised others’ from countries with no historical connection to the Netherlands.5 Since their arrival, scholars have noted that Dutch Muslims have occupied the most problematized status within Dutch society.6 As a result of the pre-existing laws of religious accommodation, the establishment of Islamic cultural/religious institutions during the 1970s and 1980s was a relatively smooth process. However, Dutch historians and social scientists have noted that the civic establishment of Islam in the Netherlands greatly outpaced public acceptance, creating a very difficult environment in which these new Dutch citizens were to integrate.7 In the 1980s, fringe political parties emerged campaigning against the multicultural character of Dutch society, and often focused on the presence of Dutch Muslims.8 Then in the 1990s, anti-Islam sentiments entered mainstream politics by way of conservative opposition leader Frits Bolkestein. In remarks that would spark the infamous “national minorities debate” of 1991-1992, Bolkestein said Dutch culture must be protected against Islam, and that the growing “problem” of minority integration should be handled “with guts”.9 Since the late 1990s, anti-Islam politicians have also personally released anti-Islam books and films as works of ‘culture’; a curious trend that increased 5 For the seminal articulation of orientalism theory see Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979). 6 Laarman, Discussions on intermarriage in the Netherlands, 1945-2005, in Post-colonial Immigrants and Identity Formations in the Netherlands 49, 68 (Ulbe Bosma ed, Amsterdam University Press, 2012). 7 Rath et al., “The politics of recognizing religious diversity in Europe: Social reactions to the institutionalization of Islam in the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain”, 68. 8 Art, Inside the radical right: The development of anti-immigrant parties in Western Europe, 78; Williams, “Can leopards change their spots? Between xenophobia and trans-ethnic populism among West European far right parties”, 113. 9 Prins, “The nerve to break taboos: New realism in the Dutch discourse on multiculturalism”, 367. 7 during the 2000s and has subsequently impacted the normalization of anti-Islam politics and national security.10 In recent years, political discussions centred on the “problem” of Dutch Muslims have reached a fevered pitch. According to Dutch racism and discrimination researchers Philomena Essed and Isabel Hoving, “the Netherlands echoes, if not leads, a wider European trend, where offensive statements about Muslims are an everyday phenomenon”.11 As a result, examining anti-Islam politics appears to be of topical relevance for the Netherlands and may also provide a window into similar political mobilizations of fears of “Islamization” in other European countries. However in stark contrast to the history discussed above, the rise of anti-Islam politics in the Netherlands is often socially understood as a response to increased anxieties of “Islamist” extremism in the post-9/11 moment. Specifically, the assassination of anti-Islam politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002, and terrorist murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004, are considered the foundation for the normalization of anti-Islam politics within mainstream Dutch society.12 There is a well-established body of scholarship dedicated to understanding how the post-9/11 security climate negatively impacts western Muslims.13 By way of example, racism and security researcher Liz Fekete identifies how post-9/11 political discussions of national security/terrorism are able to legitimize Muslim

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