Theo van Gogh's Murder
Nov. 9th, 2004 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsI asked Omaha about this last night, and she didn't know anything about it. So, here are the details.
Filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in Holland in daylight on a public street, with more than a dozen witnesses watching. His assailant pulled up in a car, got out, shot him several times, and when van Gogh refused to die from his wounds, walked up and sliced through his neck while van Gogh begged "Don't do this. Have mercy! We can still talk about this!" van Gogh was nearly decapitated. The murderer then thrust the knife, with a note, to van Gogh's chest and fled the scene.
van Gogh was the subject of death threats because of a short film he had made recently, which is available via BitTorrent, depicting an Islamic woman making prayers, while flashbacks show her non-consensual arranged marriage, rape at the hands of her brother-in-law, and punishment for "adultery". The woman is lightly veiled, and through the veil one can see her naked body, and written on her skin are the verses of the Q'ran which give men "dominion" over women.
van Gogh was only the director. He collaborated with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prime minister of the Dutch Parliament. She is an ex-Islamic and a fierce critic of the way Islam treats women. At least two documents-- one of which the note pinned to van Gogh's body-- have said that she is next on the hit list. Ali is being sued by a Moroccan national living in Holland for "dragging Mr. van Gogh into the danger zone of her apostacy." This led one blogger to comment, "Come to Amsterdam! Our weed really is this potent!"
The Dutch police have arrested his assailant and eight others who are believed to have conspired with him. All nine were members of the El Tahweed mosque, a European sect of Islam infamous for its stated goals of creating a European caliphate and wiping out secularism. The murderer himself was apparently well-known in his community for helping young people and being a volunteer, was well-educated, spoke and wrote Dutch better than most Dutch. There is good evidence that members of El Tahweed recruit into Takir Wal Hijira, a terrorist group that specializes in sleepers, people who "look and act non-Islamic" until it is time to carry out their mission. Their goal is to create havoc by turning "the ordinary boy or girl next door" into an object of suspicion.
Since the incident, Arabic websites have published death threats against several members of parliament and other critics of the non-integrationist portions of the Islamic community in Holland. Meanwhile, Dutch television shows have argued about whether on not Mr. van Gogh "went to far in using his freedom of speech," somehow implying that he deserved it. And in a man-on-the-street interview, a reporter somehow found a Muslim fellow to admit "in my community, such murder is normal. How could it not be?"
The letter stabbed into van Gogh's chest was long and rambling, accusing the Dutch of being in "sway to the lying Jews" and a bizarre reference to pregnant camels, which I'm sure is a parable understood by Q'ranic scholars, but the letter ends with a death threat against Miss Ali and this:
I know for sure that you, Oh America will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Europe, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Holland, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Hirsi Ali, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh unbelieving fundamentalist, will go under.
I think that one thing we should have learned from terrorism: when they tell you that their objective is the overthrow of the state and the death of everyone not in accordance with their ideology, believe them.
Filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in Holland in daylight on a public street, with more than a dozen witnesses watching. His assailant pulled up in a car, got out, shot him several times, and when van Gogh refused to die from his wounds, walked up and sliced through his neck while van Gogh begged "Don't do this. Have mercy! We can still talk about this!" van Gogh was nearly decapitated. The murderer then thrust the knife, with a note, to van Gogh's chest and fled the scene.
van Gogh was the subject of death threats because of a short film he had made recently, which is available via BitTorrent, depicting an Islamic woman making prayers, while flashbacks show her non-consensual arranged marriage, rape at the hands of her brother-in-law, and punishment for "adultery". The woman is lightly veiled, and through the veil one can see her naked body, and written on her skin are the verses of the Q'ran which give men "dominion" over women.
van Gogh was only the director. He collaborated with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a prime minister of the Dutch Parliament. She is an ex-Islamic and a fierce critic of the way Islam treats women. At least two documents-- one of which the note pinned to van Gogh's body-- have said that she is next on the hit list. Ali is being sued by a Moroccan national living in Holland for "dragging Mr. van Gogh into the danger zone of her apostacy." This led one blogger to comment, "Come to Amsterdam! Our weed really is this potent!"
The Dutch police have arrested his assailant and eight others who are believed to have conspired with him. All nine were members of the El Tahweed mosque, a European sect of Islam infamous for its stated goals of creating a European caliphate and wiping out secularism. The murderer himself was apparently well-known in his community for helping young people and being a volunteer, was well-educated, spoke and wrote Dutch better than most Dutch. There is good evidence that members of El Tahweed recruit into Takir Wal Hijira, a terrorist group that specializes in sleepers, people who "look and act non-Islamic" until it is time to carry out their mission. Their goal is to create havoc by turning "the ordinary boy or girl next door" into an object of suspicion.
Since the incident, Arabic websites have published death threats against several members of parliament and other critics of the non-integrationist portions of the Islamic community in Holland. Meanwhile, Dutch television shows have argued about whether on not Mr. van Gogh "went to far in using his freedom of speech," somehow implying that he deserved it. And in a man-on-the-street interview, a reporter somehow found a Muslim fellow to admit "in my community, such murder is normal. How could it not be?"
The letter stabbed into van Gogh's chest was long and rambling, accusing the Dutch of being in "sway to the lying Jews" and a bizarre reference to pregnant camels, which I'm sure is a parable understood by Q'ranic scholars, but the letter ends with a death threat against Miss Ali and this:
I know for sure that you, Oh America will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Europe, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Holland, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Hirsi Ali, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh unbelieving fundamentalist, will go under.
I think that one thing we should have learned from terrorism: when they tell you that their objective is the overthrow of the state and the death of everyone not in accordance with their ideology, believe them.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 07:06 pm (UTC)So, a demonstration is in order: an above-ground nuclear strike at an uninhabited target within sight of Mecca. During World War II, a demonstration strike was considered near Japan, but was rejected on several grounds: we weren't sure it would work (and if it were a dud, how stupid would we look?), and we didn't have a whole lot of the bombs to play with at the time. These constraints don't bind us any more.
On the other hand, maybe that's too obvious and inflammatory a demonstration. Perhaps we should take the Israeli approach, and assassinate as many leading extremist clerics as we can find, in one fell swoop. A biological in their mosques, for example. A silent, unseen killer that cuts down the cleric and those closest to him.
Hmmm, terror for terror...
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 07:24 pm (UTC)both suggestions would probably have the opposite effect to your intent, and it's quite worrying that you'd think as you do. the nuclear attack would be an assault on the nation in which the target was - inflaming them. if it were portrayed as an assault on mecca, you'd also inflame all the muslims who thought the extremists were extreme - but now see that america really is as dangerous and thoughtless as they've been told. let alone the sabre-loosening that would occur in other nuclear powers as the only country to actually use nuclear weapons did it again.
assasination, particularly ones admitted to would also have the same effect - to prove to people everywhere that america is a dangerous unrestrained animal. recruitment for the various causes would rocket.
and a personal annoyance to me - can you imagine the reaction had the british done the same to irish-americans funding and supporting the ira?
hatred breeds hatred, violence violence. i don't claim to have the answers, but i think that your answers are mindbogglingly dangerous.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 07:25 pm (UTC)All you need to do is flip it around. "Al Queda will carry out a demonstration nuclear attack at a uninhabited target near Washington, DC. Then they will assassinate diplomats at U.S. embassies."
An eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
Yes, the only way to deal with the extremists is to kill them. But the elegant way to do it is to make it look as if they killed each other in faction fights, so that the endless trail of revenge-killings results in additional collateral damage to them and not you.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-09 09:23 pm (UTC)