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>International Terrorist Support Groups Thrive in Belgium and Netherlands >Adriana Stuijt >Monday, Sept. 24, 2001 > >ROTTERDAM Top international anti-terrorism experts have identified two of >Europe's most legally tolerant regions namely, the Dutch-language areas >around Europe's most important west coast harbors, Antwerp and Rotterdam >as the main breeding ground for Muslim-fundamentalist terrorist groups. >Osama bin Laden 's organization even runs shipping companies as fronts >from Amsterdam. > >The British researcher Dr. R. Gunaratna warned that, especially in The >Netherlands, because of its total lack of anti- terrorism laws and its very >high level of religious, cultural and judicial tolerance, >Muslim-fundamentalist terrorist groups are allowed to thrive. They use >Amsterdam and Rotterdam as central bases in the West from which they >garnish funds, recruit activists from the local Muslim youth cultural >groups, and purchase highly sophisticated arms in the world's largest >trading hub: Rotterdam harbor. > >The Kurdish PKK, the Tamil Tigers and the Philippines' New People's Army >all use the liberal Dutch territory, from which they garnish new converts, >turn them into activist supporters, launder and raise funds and purchase >sophisticated equipment. These Dutch-based groups, especially, also create >waves of propaganda material and, being based in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and >Antwerp, also have no difficulty in purchasing any weapons and other >high-tech support materials with which to mount terrorist attacks abroad. > >A New Form of Terrorism > >Another new, disturbing pattern pointing to a new form of terrorism >against the civilian population at large has been detected in both harbor >towns of Antwerp and Rotterdam: "Muslim cultural organizations"have also >turned the streets of Antwerp and Rotterdam into main battlegrounds for >Muslim-fundamentalist male criminal youth gangs who deliberately attack, >rob and invade ethno-European cultural events and throngs of shoppers in >the large shopping districts. > >These well-organized attacks are leaving the local Dutch-speaking >ethno-Europeans totally vulnerable and defenseless because their >governments have no anti-terrorist laws with which to stop such highly >aggressive youth groups from forming in the first place. > >For instance, about 5.1 percent of Rotterdam's population is of Moroccan >origin yet about 10 percent of all the city's arrested criminal suspects >are of Moroccan origin, according to Rotterdam's latest police statistics >issued by chief inspector J. Verbeek and Erasmus University. > >In the Dutch-speaking region's latest criminal youth gang attack in >Belgium, in the suburb of Hasselt in Antwerp on Sept. 24, large groups of >Algerian-Moroccan youths, centrally organized by cell phones and armed >with batons and insecticide spray, attacked hundreds of local Flemish >citizens holding their traditional end-of-summer fair and circus event at >Kruger market square. > >Many eyewitnesses who described the terror and destruction at the usually >jolly and peaceful Flemish circus fair said the Algerian and Moroccan >youths targeted especially women and girls as the youth gangs tore into >the carnival goers, spraying people's eyes with insecticides and >deodorants; spitting at and insulting especially the Flemish; ordering the >girls and women to wear headscarves and calling them whores; cursing the >men as "Flemish pork-eaters"; spitting on and befouling with urine and >soil the carnival's traditional pancake dinners and destroying the >antique, highly valuable carousel and circus equipment hired for the >Hasselt community carnival. > >Flemish old-age pensioners and children alike were forced to flee in fear >of being blinded by spray, and were beaten up and kicked. The Flemish >carnival goers all local residents had to flee from a steady stream of >loud, rude verbal abuse from the young Algerians and Moroccans invading >their neighborhood. Many witnesses also said the youths chanted popular >slogans used by the Muslim-terrorist organization GIA. Some of these >events were described in a local Antwerp newspaper. > >Carnival goers who tried to remain and finish their traditional pancake >meals or who tried to protect the antique circus equipment were physically >attacked by kick-boxing youths. The equipment and musical instruments were >destroyed during the racist rampage. There were very few police in >attendance. The mainstream Belgian news media briefly described the event >as a "scuffle"at a local carnival without mentioning the racist overtones. > >In Rotterdam, only about 60 miles north of Antwerp, a similar pattern has >also been developing over the past year, with widespread reports of >assaults by Moroccan-Algerian youth gangs described by Dutch police as >"criminal youth gangs of North African descent"but who are described by >the news media as being highly centrally organized through cell phones. > >These gangs target major shopping districts and traditional European >cultural and sporting events to rob, terrorize and abuse especially the >ethno-Dutch population. During these organized attacks, the youths are >also seen to deliberately target ethno-European girls and women, demanding >that they start obeying the strict Muslim shari'a laws favored by >terrorist regimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, which require total >subservience to males. Many women shoppers now shun these major shopping >districts to avoid such confrontations. > >A Sociological Explanation > >Dutch sociologists do not link these aggressive criminal North African >male youth gangs to any Muslim-fundamentalist terrorist organizations >instead claiming that this first generation of Algerian-Moroccan youths, >primarily raised without fathers, were "deculturized"and therefore >aimlessly floating into such destructive criminal behavior. > >The sociologists, in fact, urged even more government subsidies to these >"cultural"groups to try and combat such behavior. By tradition and unlike >Christian women, these sociologists point out, Muslim women are never >allowed to discipline any of their male children and the cultural groups >might be able to better "channel their male energies." > >However, there's a much more organized situation going on here than these >Dutch sociologists would have us believe. For example, on the night after >the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, large groups of >North African youths congregated in the town squares in Antwerp and also >in the town of Ede in The Netherlands. In this town, a huge crowd of >Muslim male youths had started to congregate shortly after the attacks and >started celebrating what they themselves told the horrified local citizens >was their personal "victory against America." > >This was too much even for the highly liberal Dutch Ede citizens called in >the local police and demanded the youths' removal. However, the local >police station commander lamely excused his lack of inaction by saying >that the youths had been "expressing their rights to free speech available >to all Dutch citizens"and that he was not allowed to stop the distasteful >celebration. > >And in a shock survey carried out by Muslim cultural publications the day >after the attack, a full 80 percent of the thousands of Dutch Muslims >questioned said that they had been in favor of the terrorist attacks. > >Besides these clear danger signals from the Muslim community in The >Netherlands itself, the Dutch government this week was also warned by the >British anti-terrorism expert Gunaratna, of the Centre for the Study of >Terrorism and Political Science at St. Andrews University in Scotland, to >"stop disregarding the international fight against terrorism, and start >prohibiting these terrorist support groups by law." > >He urged the Dutch government to immediately change its laws and >immediately prohibit these support groups. "Your country must change its >laws at once if it wants to remain free of terrorism,"he said. > >Dutch Law and Terrorism > >The Netherlands does not have any anti-terrorism laws and thus openly >allowed fundraising and arms purchase exporting by, for instance, >terrorist support groups during the anti-apartheid movement's support of >the terrorist cells of the African Nationalist Congress (ANC) and the >Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) before 1994. > >Many Dutch citizens such as the head of the now- defunct "Anti-apartheid >movement Netherlands,"the journalist Connie Braam even actively >participated in smuggling weapons and bombs into South Africa from Dutch >territory and without any intervention from the Dutch government, which >even provided government funding for this terrorist support group. > >Dutch law itself contributes to the thriving terrorist support-group >culture in The Netherlands. It does not allow any actions to be undertaken >against support groups of terrorist organizations if it cannot be firmly >proven that their fundraising and other physical support led to the terror >attacks. > >However, the internal security service of The Netherlands (BVD) itself is >also not concentrating on probing such Muslim- fundamentalist terrorist >activities as much as they are infiltrating right-wing or neo-Nazi groups, >as the Dutch government has traditionally viewed such fascism as the prime >enemy of peace and prosperity since the Nazi occupation during WWII. > >As long as the Muslim-fundamentalist terrorist support groups do not >misbehave inside The Netherlands, they can therefore continue to use the >Dutch territory from which to garnish economic and material support >including purchasing highly sophisticated weaponry from the local arms >industry even if these directly lead to terrorist attacks outside The >Netherlands, as also happened during the terrorist campaign conducted by >the ANC and the PAC against the apartheid government in South Africa prior >to 1994. > >Belgium does have some anti-terrorist legislation also primarily targeting >right-wing neo-Nazi groups but is juristically more lenient toward >Muslim-fundamentalist terrorist support groups on Belgian soil. > >Other European countries do have better anti-terrorist legislation, with >Great Britain having the most stringent laws due to its Northern Ireland >troubles. > >Terrorist Support Groups > >Gunaratna said many of these groups have been active in The Netherlands >for many years. "They conduct fundraisers and launder funds in The >Netherlands to carry out violent attacks in Asia and the Middle East,"he >said. > >He also noticed such support groups among other Muslim communities not >known for terrorist activities, such as the Sikhs, Sri Lankans, and >Pakistani and Kurd cultural groups many of which are even subsidized by >the Dutch government. > >American expert Yossef Bodansky, author of a book on bin Laden, also >confirmed that Amsterdam-based shipping companies operate as front >organizations for the Al Qaida organization. This was also confirmed by >the French-Arabian newspaper Al Watan Al Arabi. > >Dutch internal affairs minister De Vries shrugged a dismayed "So what can >I do about it?"reaction when confronted with these warnings from >international experts telling the TV program "Buitenhof"that he actually >"could not exclude that subversive activities might be taking place inside >such Muslim cultural groups." > >And he even warned a few days later after talks with the 25 mayors of the >main Dutch cities in charge of the regional police corps that "the Dutch >cannot now start waging a cold war against Muslim religious groups." > >He also warned Amsterdam's chief justice officer L. de Wit who had told >the news media that he would call in the defense force in case of pro-bin >Laden riots in the capital city that it was "very foolish to speculate in >public about possible riots." > >He also considered it unnecessary to rush to protect and beef up the >security for all the public buildings and public figures against terrorist >attacks. "There is no concrete terrorist threat in The Netherlands,"he >concluded and advised that only "some public buildings"had had their >security stepped up. Al Watan > >Meanwhile, Rotterdam's mayor, Mr. I. Opstelten, said the four men arrested >in his city last week as suspects connected to the terrorist attacks on >America still have not provided any leads that could link them. One is in >a routine holding facility for illegal aliens and the other three are in >police custody pending the investigation, he said. > >The Dutch internal security organization, the BVD, has managed to >confiscate a "suspicious parcel"destined for the United States, which was >posted in the Swartjan street post office in Rotterdam. The country's >anti-terrorist expert P. van der Molen said the main suspect of this >Muslim support group, a Tunisian citizen, is still in custody in Brussels, >Belgium. > >Some anti-Muslim reactions were also recorded in The Netherlands since the >Sept. 11 infamy. About 25 incidents were recorded by Dutch police, >including arson, graffiti, and threats against mosques and Islamic schools >in the towns of Vlissingen, Uden, Zwolle, Heerlen, The Hague and Rijssen. >Two Islamic schools were torched, one in Nijmegen and the other in Drachten. > >The Dutch cabinet minister in charge of "integration management,"Mr. Van >Boxtel, said this "unacceptable behavior against our young new Dutch >citizens, this mini-terrorism, will be punished with the full force of >Dutch law." Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ------- End of forwarded message ------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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