Party Time

Every year on November 2 a select group of Dutch Muslims holds a party to celebrate the anniversary of Theo Van Gogh’s murder. Last year’s celebration was attended by a Dutch anthropologist who purports to “study” Islamic radicals. The existence of these parties — and his admission of his own participation — was inadvertently revealed on Twitter, and has caused a bit of controversy in the Netherlands.

Our Flemish correspondent VH has compiled a report on these events, based on translations from several Dutch media sources. To introduce the topic, here’s an article from Dagelijkse Standaard:

Salafism researcher conceals annual celebration of Van Gogh’s death

Things are not going too well for anthropologist Martijn de Koning. He is a long-time researcher into Salafism in the Netherlands, but does not know enough to keep at a distance from his study subjects. Frontaal Naakt this Week wrote about the good man [see Article 2 below].

His conciliatory language towards the supporters of Fortuyn and those of Wilders has also drastically changed. Martijn de Koning now grumbles about “agitators and liars”, as if a policeman from a totalitarian dictatorship is speaking out. He does not even bother hiding his true nature, “was only a threat to @ jihadinho” he wrote to journalist Patrick Pouw (Twitter name: paddypouw) who of course was also impressed. “For her own good,” he said. Martijn de Koning is apparently so deeply embedded in the radical Muslim movement, that he is not even aware that such casual threats are abnormal.

That indeed does not quite appear to be a researcher who stands above the object of his study. But it gets worse. Today Kustaw Bessems in the newspaper De Pers writes that Martijn de Koning does nothing in his power to ring the bell on the annual “Theo-is-killed-jollification” (dixit Bessems). [see Article 1 below]

The existence of these parties came to light because a woman who calls herself “Jihadinho” wrote last year at the website of Martijn de Koning: “Hey Martijn, nice party today isn’t it, we’ll repeat that for November 2.” This weekend Martijn de Koning was questioned about this on twitter by the journalist Patrick Pouw.

Martijn de Koning said he had not celebrated a party himself, but was present for the purpose of a field study. “Background information, gaining contacts, observing people in a certain environment. It is not my job to judge them, but to understand.” He added: “Participation is a big word, but of course I was talking and drinking.”

With this, the “researcher” Martijn de Koning finally throws off his mask of innocence. From an anthropological perspective there is no need at all to join amiably with the jihadist crowd, but even less so to do reveal the existence of the parties. Or did he think he would only pay attention to this in his next published piece?

You can tell the Ministry of Education what to do with these kinds of researchers.

Article 1, from De Pers:

Netherlands: Every year a Theo-is-killed-jollification

by Kustaw Bessems

In recent years a handful of radical Muslims have held a party on the anniversary of the day Theo van Gogh was murdered. To celebrate that event.

“Not a second of regret”

On November 2, 2009, Anthropologist Martijn de Koning, of the Radboud University Nijmegen, was present at one of those Theo-is-killed-parties. Martijn de Koning, specialized in research on ultra-orthodox Muslims, revealed it this weekend via twitter. He claims that at least one such meeting had taken place before.

Director, interviewer and columnist Theo van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam in 2004 by the Islamic terrorist Muslim Mohammed Bouyeri. Bouyeri, who was the central figure in a network of radical Muslims, argued that Van Gogh had offended the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

The existence of these parties came to light because a woman who calls herself “Jihadinho” wrote last year at the website of Martijn de Koning: “Hey Martijn, nice party today isn’t it, we’ll repeat that for November 2.” This weekend Martijn de Koning was questioned about this on twitter by the journalist Patrick Pouw.

Martijn de Koning said he had not celebrated a party himself, but was present for the purpose of a field study. “Background information, gaining contacts, observing people in a certain environment. It is not my job to judge them, but to understand”. He added: “Participating is a big word, but of course I have been talking and drinking.”

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The partygoers, according to him, are people who “for years have traveled beyond the usual circuits,” outside the circles of Salafis, the ultra-orthodox Muslims Martijn de Koning publishes so much about. According to him the party was a “peaceful event” that he himself found “at that moment an overwhelming experience”. He refuses to talk more about it. “I’ve said enough.”

Martijn de Koning has never previously spoken publicly about these parties, since it might damage his contacts, because he wants to protect his sources, “but mostly because I have not been able to ask permission of all who were present and spoke extensively.”

He finds it “better to wait, there is more distance then”.

[The two paragraphs below have been deleted from the article since the time they were translated.]

No regrets

From a letter by Mohammed Bouyeri in July, the murderer of filmmaker and columnist Theo van Gogh speaks out to say that he does not regret his act. The 32-year-old Bouyeri, who has been imprisoned for six years now, has had during all those years not one second of regret for the choices he made. The letter was addressed to a Muslim group. The Dutch security service AIVD is familiar with the letter.

Weak moments

What Mohammed Bouyeri says is in line with what he stated during his trial for the murder of the filmmaker, which he committed out of radical Islamic motives. He further writes that he has sometimes had weak moments, but never had doubts about the path he chose. Bouyeri is responding with his letter to a letter he received from Sanabil on June 10, the day before he dated his own letter.

Article 2, from Frontaal Naakt (Warning: Nude photos are included in the linked article):

Dr. Scimitar

by Peter Breedveld

As an anthropologist, Martijn de Koning is concerned with the beliefs of young Muslims in the Netherlands. He wrote a very interesting and revealing book about it, “Searching for a ‘pure’ Islam”, which should be required reading for anyone who engages in the debate about Muslims.

[…]

I’ve always backed up Martijn de Koning. The accusations of collaborating with the Salafists do not hold up, and seem to be completely based on the fact that Martijn de Koning speaks at Islam conferences and the like, which are also attended by Salafists.

But I’ve always been annoyed by the fact that Martijn de Koning immediately grabs the pen to attack people who criticize intolerant Muslims, and never aimed his arrows at those intolerant Muslims. There is a documentary by the British Channel 4, in which the American Muslim preacher Khalid Yassin — who is praised by the Dutch press — lasciviously praises Saudi society, “where you see people with severed hands, where heads roll in the street and where people are flogged and stoned.” In Saudi Arabia, people are at least punished for their misdeeds, Yassin asserts with satisfaction.

Not, therefore, what you’d call a bridge-builder, this Yassin, unless you are a member of Green Left. Martijn de Koning however, believes that the documentary makers have not been upright, and taken the delirious roar of Yassin out of context. I have repeatedly asked him in what context Yassin’s fascist blood-thirst becomes acceptable, but receive only evasive answers.

Khalid Yassin in recent years been a regular guest in the Amsterdam “Polder Mosque”, where — as leftist politicians assure us — a liberal, tolerant Islam is being preached. Yassin preached there at the invitation of Muhammad Cheppih^[1], another one of those free-thinking, tolerant Muslims. Yassin would like to come over to live in Almere, comfortably near Hilversum [the Dutch broadcasters have headquarters there], because he “likes so much to work with media people”. Media people like Mohamed Cheppih, who was busy pushing his Muslim broadcaster down the throats of the world (with the tactical chosen name “Ouma”).

Yesterday Martijn de Koning suddenly let it slip on Twitter that Yassin will no longer come to the Netherlands, and that is news. Why Yassin no longer wants to come to the Netherlands, Martijn de Koning will not say. But suddenly a twittering radical Muslim woman came crawling out of the woodwork, Jihadinho (check her Twitter backdrop, check also the Twitter Decor of her friend UmmOsama, “Mother of Osama”), who asked Martijn de Koning why he did not explain what keeps Yassin out of the Netherlands. And this is what Martijn de Koning replied (he has since removed the tweet):

“Because I keep that information to myself, and you’d better do the same!”

Whoa! It seems Martijn de Koning has become an authority in the Dutch jihadi community. Someone who barks orders that are obeyed meekly by the radikalinskis. His conciliatory language towards the supporters of Fortuyn and those of Wilders has also has also drastically changed. Martijn de Koning now grumbles about “agitators and liars”, as if he were a policeman from a totalitarian dictatorship speaking out. He does not even bother hiding his true nature, “was only a threat to @ jihadinho” he wrote to journalist Patrick Pouw (Twitter name: paddypouw) who of course was also impressed. “For her own good,” he said.

“Only” a threat! Martijn de Koning is apparently so deeply embedded in the radical Muslim movement, that he is not even aware that such casual threats are abnormal. He is also aware of inside information about the preachers of hate and violence that Muhammad Cheppih invites to the Netherlands and promises government-subsidized jobs, and he threatens his jihadi girlfriends that they must shut up if they know what’s good for them.

This much is clear: Martijn de Koning lost his scientific objectivity sometime between the spring and summer of 2008. He obviously enjoys the unbounded trust of his research objects, but yesterday mine *POOF* went up in smoke.

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VH adds:

Back in March Gates of Vienna posted this video by Vlad Tepes featuring Martijn de Koning:

Concerning the video, Pritt (GeenStijl) commented on twitter about the: “F***ng rude shirt that @martijn5155 [Social and Cultural Anthropologist Martijn de Koning] wears in this little video. Where do you buy that?” And re-posted Lars Vilks’ drawing: “Weekly Elsevier and De Pers (‘insulters’) are in trouble with the sheik Fawaz Whatever, the cancer-wishing humorless hate beard on Islam.tv. Because of the above cartoon, which newspaper AD earlier this week censored away after complaints from nagging Muslims. GeenStijl had posted the cartoon in August 2007, and nothing was the matter with it then, but now seemingly there is. Excellent. Come on [if you dare], come on!”

Note:

[1]

Mohammed Cheppih was former frontman of the Dutch branch of the AEL (Arab European League of Abou Jahja) and initiated the founding of a mosque in Amsterdam-Slotervaart, the “Polder-moskee”, which was opened by Ahmed Marcouch [PvdA, Labour Party, Socialists] and Tariq Ramadan.