Dutch minorities on the death of Pim Fortuyn: The man with a mission

This article by Monique Doppert was delayed through a computer malfunction. However, the views it expresses about the murder of a right wing politician, do need to be placed on record in the English language media. A Dutch anti-fur trade activist has been arrested in connection with the death

All comments in the Netherlands from left to right, old and young, rich and poor, black or white on Pim Fortuyns murder strike the same note: it was a terrible act of terror and a disgrace for democracy.

Fortuyn was the leading candidate of a new political party of only a few months named after himself: Pim Fortunes List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF)). Fortuyn thoroughly shocked the political classes in The Hague.

Asylum seekers, foreigners and Islam were important political issues for Fortuyn. If I win the elections it will be because of the foreigners. All our problems in national healthcare, security and education are related to this problem, Fortuyn said in a recent interview in Belgium newspaper De Morgen

His opinions about, among other things, closing the Dutch borders to Moslems, and stopping immigration, led to emotional debates. We will now never know whether Fortuyn had the extreme right-ideas he promoted or if he was just being provocative to get attention and stimulate debate?

It came as a great relief for minority leaders to learn that a white Dutchman had been arrested in connection with the murder. Jamal Ftieh, Chair of the Committee of Morrocan Workers (Komite Marrokaanse Arbeiders in Holland ) told the liberal Dutch national daily, NRC Handelsblad& on the day after the killing:

The Moroccan community do not solve political conflicts in this way. It is unusual. But Fortuyn made a lot of enemies and I feared escalation Ftieh used strong words to show he disapproved of the murder, like other Moroccan spokespeople.

This political murder is a disgrace for Dutch democracy, said Abdou Menebhi, member of a network of Morrocan organisations in the Netherlands.

In the same article in NRC Handelsblad, Mohammed Sini, Chair of theWorking group on Islam and Citizenship (Werkgroep Islam en Burgerschap) described the attack on Fortuyn as A disaster, the attack on a politician is unthinkable and inadmissible. He said.

Sini was curious as to the identity of the offender. This will have an influence on the future relations in the Dutch multicultural society he said.

Said Boudouft, member of the Cooperative of Moroccans and Tunisians (SMT), (Samenwerkingsverband Marokkanen en Tunesiërs) condemned the murder. It is unbelievable, whatever motivated the killer. We only know of this kind of tragedy in far off dictatorial countries. Not in our own country.

During the election campaign an ethnicly mixed group of youngsters (in Dutch: allochtone en autochtone) visited the cities to persuade people to come out to vote on election day, Wednesday May 15th. The group are called Are you afraid of me? (Ben Je Bang Voor Mij') said on their websitethat they were as shocked as the rest of the Netherlands.

We are deeply shocked because of the attack on Pim Fortuyn. This stunning murder is an enormous blow to Dutch democracy. It should never have happened.

Also The National Bureau Against Racism (Het Landelijk Bureau Racisme) called the murder a coward attack and also an attack on basicDutch democratic ideas. Like all other organisations and parties, the organisation cancelled all its election activities.

On Tuesday afternoon, the day after the murder, several migrant organisations laid flowers at Pim Fortuyns house. In this way they wanted to sympathize with Fortuyns relatives

These reactions are not opportunistic. On Saturday 4 May two days before the crime took place, De Volkskrant, a big national paper published an article which illustrated that themigrant organisations were critical but not completely unsympathetic to Fortuyns opinions, or at least that they welcomed the debate these opinions sparked.

Haci Karacaer, Chair of Milli Görüs, a social cultural Turkish organization, believed Fortuyn a blessing for the Dutch political system. He shows the weak spots in the position of the Dutch ethnic minorities. His statement Islam is a backward religion forced Moslems to react. That is good

The Organisation for Refugees, (De stichting Vluchtelingenwerk) declared itself to be shocked and also stopped their campagneOp slot doen, kan dodelijk zijn( Closing [borders]can be deadly.)

On their website they stressed that this slogan was never mend to be against the Pim Fortuyn personally, but against his idea of closing the Dutch borders:

Because of the decision to continue the elections on Wednesday (May 18) wíth the Lijst Pim Fortuyn, we see enough reason to campaign with an alternative message. As long as strong, negative sentiments against asylum seekers and refugees remain, we keep supporting the right of refugees to have protection. That is why we will continue our campaign on May 13.

This compilation of comments is based on articles from the following national papers:
NRC Handelsblad,
De Volkskrant,
De Haagsche Courant
And De Morgen (a Belgian paper)

• Monique Doppert is the co-ordinator of the Migrants & The Media campaign of the The Netherlands Association of Journalists