A Visit from the Dutch Minister

Last week, I had the pleasure of listening to Frans Timmermans, a Dutch Cabinet Minister, at the Islamic Center of America.  The program was the result of the work of Victor Begg, a Michigan Roundtable Board Member and the Chair of the Board’s Interfaith Committee.  Minister Timmermans spoke of dialogue and respect surrounding the Muslim community.   I thought I would share his comments with you. 

I visited Dearborn today, the centre of the Muslim Community in the US. Very impressive. I came to listen and learn, and to share some of my concerns about the lack of real dialogue in Dutch society.

My country has always had minorities. We are good at allowing people to make their own choices but not at dialogue. And that is what the world at this time needs; dialogue.

But today fear has become the driving force in politics. The preferred object of this fear is Islam. Why? People have the feeling they lost control over their lives – there is a lot of insecurity in a fast changing society and globalizing world. There is also widespread pessimism – people fear that their children will be worse off than they themselves. Change, then, is not perceived as a good thing, but rather as a threat.  In Holland, muslins, many of whom are relatively new in society, often exemplify change and thus are seen as a threat to society as we know it.

That is why we need dialogue – real dialogue, not a simple exchange of positions, but a real conversation.

I was also asked about the film Fitna and the Dutch parliamentarian who produced it, Geert Wilders. I believe that the best way to deal with this is to simply take note of the film and understand that it is meant to provoke. I am convinced that the most politically effective reaction is to say: “Geert, this obsession is your problem, not ours.” And that is exactly what the Dutch Muslims did.

But apart from that, we need to look the beast in the eye, to face painful truths. There is fear between communities. There is a rise in anti-Semitism in Holland and some muslim youths are to blame for this. And there are gay teachers in schools who no longer dare express their sexual orientation because they feel threatened by muslim youths. Yes, there is discrimination in Holland, also against people called Ahmed or Mohammed. Yes, we have double standards. All these problems need to be confronted head on. We need dialogue, but dialogue is not a goal in itself. It is the interaction between communities and the willingness to listen to each other and to be convinced by each others’ arguments. Social peace is not only talking about what we share but also acknowledging where our opinions differ and respecting those differences. Of course without any tolerance towards those who break the law.

Dearborn leads the way in this respect. The interfaith dialogue, the mutual respect and interest to really listen to each other. I really hope I can take that spirit home.

About the author:
Frans Timmermans is Cabinet Minister and member of the Social Democrat Party (PvdA) in the Netherlands. He has the political responsibility for the co-ordination of the celebrations of NY400. As part of these celebrations, Timmermans is focusing on importance of shared values, especially within the current global economic environment; the values of the Dutch 17th century Republic (freedoms, tolerance, open-mindedness), which through the Dutch-American settlers in ‘New Amsterdam’ would greatly influence the American founding fathers.

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