Theo van Gogh Murdered in Amsterdam

[Snowden]

Theo van Gogh murdered in Amsterdam

2 November 2004

AMSTERDAM — Film director Theo van Gogh was shot and killed in Amsterdam on Tuesday morning, his production company said.


Theo van GoghBy midday, police had confirmed the film director's death. Earlier reporters at the scene say Van Gogh was shot and stabbed at the front door of the city council office on the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam around 9am.

He managed to get to the other side of the street where he was again shot and stabbed. He died at the scene, Planet News reported. Reporters at the scene said his body was covered by a white sheet.

The police said that the suspected killer shot and slightly injured another person while fleeing to the nearby Oosterpark. He shot at police vehicles on the Mauritskade, injuring one officer who was wearing a bullet proof vest. The police returned fire, hitting the suspect in the leg.

Both the injured officer, the bystander and the suspect have been taken to hospital. All are expected to live.

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Unmasking Islamic domestic violence



I won't be intimidated for expressing my views
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Locals claim the assassin looked like "a Muslim" and that a letter was left on Van Gogh's body. The letter allegedly had Islamic text, but this has not been confirmed.

Van Gogh, 47, directed the controversial movie Submission — written by Somali-born MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali — which criticised the Koran for sanctioning domestic violence in Islamic communities.

He recently received numerous death threats following the release of Submission. He was also making a movie about populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who was assassinated in Hilversum in May 2002. The film is due for release on the internet via Tiscali in several weeks time.

Meanwhile, RTL-Z business news reported that Hirsi Ali, who wrote the scenario for the film Submission, has been taken to a secure location by her protection officers. She has had armed protection for more than a year after her life was threatened when she criticised Islam.

She famously described the Muslim prophet Mohammed as a "pervert" by modern standards for marrying a 12-year-old girl.

Late last month a man was jailed for posting a death threat against Hirsi Ali on the internet following the screening of Submission on Dutch television in August.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news, Theo van Gogh

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=13472&n ame=Director+Theo+van+Goghmurdered+in+Amsterdam
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Dutch Filmmaker Theo Van Gogh Murdered


Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch Filmmaker Who Criticized Islam, Slain in Amsterdam



The Associated Press





AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Nov 2, 2004 — A Dutch filmmaker who had received death threats after releasing a movie criticizing the treatment of women under Islam was slain in Amsterdam on Tuesday, police said.

A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with officers that left him wounded, police said.

Filmmaker Theo van Gogh had been threatened after the August airing of the movie "Submission," which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth. Van Gogh had received police protection after its release. Dutch national broadcaster NOS and other media reported that Van Gogh's killer shot and stabbed his victim and left a note on his body. NOS said witnesses described the attacker as having an "Arab appearance."

A witness who lives in the neighborhood heard six shots, and saw the man concealing a gun. She said he walked away slowly, spoke to someone at the edge of the park, and then ran.





"He was walking slowly, like he was trying to be cool," she said, describing him as wearing a long beard and Islamic garb. "He was either an Arabic man or someone disguised as a Muslim," she said.

Another witness told Dutch Radio 1 the killer arrived by bicycle and shot Van Gogh as he got out of a car. "He fell backward on the bicycle path and just laid there. The shooter stayed next to him and waited. Waited to make sure he was dead."

The slain filmmaker was the great grandson of the brother of famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, who was also named Theo. In a recent radio interview, Van Gogh dismissed the threats and called the movie "the best protection I could have. It's not something I worry about."

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called on the Dutch people to remain calm.

"Nothing is known about the motive," he said in a written statement. "I want to call on everyone not to jump to far-reaching conclusions. The facts must first be carefully weighed so let's allow the investigators to do their jobs."

Balkenende praised Van Gogh as a proponent of free speech who had "outspoken opinions."

"It would be unacceptable if a difference of opinion led to this brutal murder," he said.

Police spokesman Eric Vermeulen said the attacker fled to the nearby East Park, and was arrested after exchanging gunfire with police. Both the suspect and a policeman suffered minor injuries.

"They were conscious" when taken to hospital, Vermeulen said.

Van Gogh's killing immediately rekindled memories of the 2002 assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who polarized the nation with his anti-immigration views and was shot to death days before national elections.

In addition to his film, van Gogh also wrote columns about Islam that were published on his Web site, www.theovangogh.nl, and Dutch newspaper Metro.

The short television film "Submission" aired on Dutch television in August, enraged the Muslim community in the Netherlands.

It told the fictional story of a Muslim woman forced into a violent marriage, raped by a relative and brutally punished for adultery.

The English-language film was scripted by a right-wing politician who years ago renounced the Islamic faith of her birth and now refers to herself as an "ex-Muslim."

Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament, has repeatedly outraged fellow Muslims by criticizing Islamic customs and the failure of Muslim families to adopt Dutch ways.

The place of Muslim immigrants in Dutch society has long been a contentious issue in the Netherlands, where many right-wing politicians have pushed for tougher immigration laws and say Muslims already settled in the country must make a greater effort to assimilate.

Theo van Gogh, 47, has often come under criticism for his controversial movies. In December, his next movie "06-05," about the May 6, 2002 assassination of Pim Fortuyn, is scheduled to debut on the Internet.



Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.





http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=218066

[odannyboy]

Marianne, do you remember when Pim Fortyun was murdered in Holland? I do, and I remember he was very outspoken on the rising menace of radical Islam in Europe. And he was murdered, and now another outspoken voice is silenced.
Besides the fact there are few voices willing to openly say what everyone knows, there is a new "fascism" in Europe, one that is totally intolerant and just as violent as what was seen over 60 years ago, and ignoring the threat will not make it go away.

Look at France, where the Muslim population is a little over 5% but their prison population is over 80% Muslim.

Someday there will be serious racial and religious strife resulting from radical Islam and its followers adhering to its intolerant and violent teachings.

[Snowden]

Yes, Danny - I do remember, and I think you're right about what is to come in Europe. It'll be here too, I'm afraid, in due course.

This is typical of Islamic fanatism. For some reason, their god needs to be defended - which certainly isn't the case with God. I think this is a clue that they do not worship our God. I know that sounds bigoted, but it's not that at all. It is simple fact. We don't slice off heads shouting praise to God; we don't bundle women up and hold them in servitude - and we don't kill people for not believing as we do and praying as we do. It's just entirely different.

And Europe has not even started to deal with it yet. And neither have we. I'm not sure it's even possible, Dan. How do you deal with people who kill someone who tells the truth about their beliefs - or anything else?

Bat Ye'or has a fatwa on her for writing and telling about Islam. Oriana Fallaci has the same and cannot even go home to Florence with her own passport - she has to be disguised. And we all know about Rushdi. It's not rare. What is rather rare is the actual killing of the person(s) who have the fatwas.

Usually they go somewhere out of sight.

[odannyboy]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was always irritated at the lack of freedom under Islam



Somali-born Hirsi Ali, 34, is herself a former Muslim and an outspoken critic of Islam's treatment of women. Her film 'Submission' which depicts the text of the Koran on the naked flesh of Muslim women, is provoking a furore in the Netherlands.
With the assassination of right-wing political leader Pim Fortuyn in May 2002 still horribly fresh in people’s minds, the Dutch security services are clearly taking no chances and have mounted round-the-clock protection.

But Hirsi Ali is undaunted: "Reactions to my film have been varied and I accept some people are offended, that's legitimate, but in a democracy it is not legitimate to intimidate and threaten someone for expressing her views. I made the film to publicise an injustice that is being ignored not only in Holland but throughout the world."


This is a brave woman, and how many non-Muslims can express their dismay, their reservations, their fears for the future with the rise of radical Islam in Europe?

The hard core leftists immediately shout them down and call them "fascists" when, in fact, they are defending the very thing they are accusing others of being.

The only hope for Europe is to recognize the danger and quit ignoring it exists, and then, perhaps, it still may be too late.

[Snowden]

By odannyboy: This is a brave woman, and how many non-Muslims can express their dismay, their reservations, their fears for the future with the rise of radical Islam in Europe?

The hard core leftists immediately shout them down and call them "fascists" when, in fact, they are defending the very thing they are accusing others of being.

The only hope for Europe is to recognize the danger and quit ignoring it exists, and then, perhaps, it still may be too late.

She is a very brave woman. That last sentence - I wonder how many in Europe, Britain or the US recognize the danger of militant Islam. Actually, Mohammad meant all of Islam to be militant - those in it who are peace loving and live in Christian-style families - they will also be targeted if we do not realize and somehow defeat the terrorists who are engaged in this newest attempt to conquer the northern hemisphere. Once they get Europe and the US broken, they are sure of taking the rest of the world. This is the way bin Laden is thinking. This is the way all militant Islam is programmed to go.

We may be too late; but with God's help, nothing is impossible. First we have to be aware of what the danger is and be willing to stand against it. The final results tonight may be the start - one way or the other.

[odannyboy]

Originally Posted by Snowden

We may be too late; but with God's help, nothing is impossible. First we have to be aware of what the danger is and be willing to stand against it. The final results tonight may be the start - one way or the other.

There are ways to really win this war against radical Islam, and I have never thought those in the Bush Admin. had a clue as to the best way to defeat it.

The debacle in Iraq is only proof of this, and we are creating more resentment and hatred, which is essentially a petri dish for breeding new strains. You cannot defeat it entirely by military force, it has to be a combined effort of surgical removal of its leadership and an isolation of the poisonous message that finds an audience with the disenchanted.

What we hoped to accomplish in Iraq is unclear to me. The removal of Saddam was never about any fantasy WMD, it was more about nation building and having a democratic, oil producing client state in the Middle East, and the problem is this is an exceedingly difficult task, and one that, with our guns a blazin' approach and little international cooperation, to say nothing of having an effective framework of a democratic institution to take over once Saddam was deposed, seems terribly misguided and reckless.

Basically it was shattering a hornets nest and trying to calm the hive. Seems like an inept and naive way to fight terrorism, especially when the threat was hyped and never really existed.

Right now it looks like four more years of Bush. To me, a dreadful thought, and more of the same boneheaded policies, both foreign and domestic.

[Snowden]

Well, it's 1:00 a.m. here and time for me to turn in. We still don't know who will take Ohio, but Cleveland is in the county not yet counted, and it's in the cities that the dead vote. So Kerry may yet win. Neither can win without Ohio.

I understand what you're saying, Dan, and I see why you are so worried. If the Democrats had a candidate I could have voted for, I would have. I know more about the Mid East than the administration, I'm afraid - and that doesn't mean I think I know all about it. But I doubt Kerry knows any more than they do.

Kerry went six times to vote against the ban on partial birth abortions. bin Laden threatened any "red state" in that tape - and we know he's been trying to get back in the US to attack again and has either too few men now or just hasn't been able to pull it off. So maybe they know more than they can tell. I don't know.

What I fear from Kerry isn't just the war/peace in Iraq - that's a mishmash, no matter who is in the Oval Office. What worries me is the Supreme Court seats that will be in need of new people. Kerry, I'm sure, would give one to Hillary. A liberal would/will be in each seat that is emptied - and this nation will continue murdering children who are quite capable of living outside the womb. We will become more and more "liberal." Bill Clinton will head the UN - or at least represent the US there. He may do well at that - he's no dummy. And what about Ted Kennedy? We know he would get a plum too - he's been behind Kerry all along.

There's bad baggage in both parties; but I trust George Bush a lot more than I would John Kerry. Kerry probably could mend fences with Europe - but the peace in the Mid East is a dream. The way we went in - I agree it was not the way to do it. Hindsight is 20-20. Your description as it being like "shattering a hornets nest and trying to calm the hive" is beautiful in its accuracy. Unfortunately bees not even of that hive have joined in. I believe one reason we haven't had bin Laden's lot over here blowing things up again is because he is stretched too thin fighting us and our allies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The idea of a democracy was probably one reason we are in Iraq - but the central location for any future Mid East problems (attacks?) is excellent. We can reach China, all the East European allies if they need help, all of North Africa and Arabia much more easily from Iraq than from Europe. The idea was probably inclusive of all these things as well as oil - I never overlook oil where Cheney is present.