Suddenly Wilders isn't so funny anymore

Call it perfect integration. One third of all people with Turkish and Moroccan roots in the Netherlands complain about the country and say they want to emigrate - just like the Dutch.

There is one difference, however, according to a report published this week: when Moroccan-Dutch or Turkish-Dutch say they are considering leaving the country, it is because of the growing popularity of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

When Chahid el Haddouti, a 29-year-old outreach worker in Gouda, picks up the phone, he says he is Tangiers, Morocco. And no, he is not on holiday either; he is trying to set up a rental car company there. If things work out, he is moving to Morocco permanently. It's nice being in Tangiers, he says, what with the weather and all. But most of all nobody there addresses him as 'a Muslim'; being a Muslim is not an issue in Tangiers.

Showman

Ehssane Gounou (24) is a management student and a provincial representative for the Dutch Labour party. She has lived her whole life in Oss, in the south of the Netherlands. After last month's European election, Gounou was shocked to find out how many people in her hometown had voted for Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV). "Sometimes when I'm walking in the streets now I wonder: where are those people? And do they hate me?"

People around her have always taken the rise of Wilders in stride. Her boyfriend, who is also of Moroccan descent, even says it wouldn't be such a bad idea if Wilders would be part of a coalition government. He is betting that Wilders will inevitably disappoint. Gounou's younger sister sees Wilders as a showman more than a politician. "I guess there's some truth in that. You're always wondering what he will come up with next. Moroccans too think he's funny to watch on TV."

But lately, as more and more people turn out to take Wilders seriously, Gounou doesn't think it is so funny anymore. "First he was talking about kicking the criminals out of the country, then it was criminal Moroccans, now he refers to Muslims. But, hey, I'm a Muslim too."

It's not that well-educated Muslims are often confronted with negative comments in their daily lives. "But as soon as you turn on the radio or TV, or pick up a newspaper, they're always talking about 'the Muslims'. That means they're talking about me too."

Here to stay

Chahid el Haddouti only gets negative comments when he has forgotten to shave. "I heard people whispering 'terrorist' at the railway station." Most of the time he's clean-shaven. "But sometimes people will say: 'Oh, but you don't look the least bit Moroccan.' As if that's a compliment or something."

Umar Mirza (22) and his brother are the founders of wijblijvenhier.nl ('We're here to stay'), a website for young Muslims. "The idea for the site was born from a positive feeling, the feeling that this is our country. My parents are from Pakistan, but I know Pakistan only as a holiday destination and from my parents' stories."

Mirza can understand why some Muslims in the Netherlands say they want to leave, but he doubts that many will. "When we criticise the Netherlands on our website, we often get reactions of the look-at-what-happens-in-your-own-country variety. But criticising the Netherlands to us is self-criticism. The Netherlands is my country. I am Dutch."

It is an overstatement to say that Wilders is responsible for Muslims feeling unwelcome in the Netherlands, says Sadik Harchaoui, director of the multicultural institute Forum. He thinks the mood was set on September 11, 2001. "Muslims have been living under a magnifying glass ever since. It doesn't matter how well integrated they are, it will be never be enough. The Netherlands has become a lot less attractive for Muslims."

Ultimately, says Harchaoui, this will pose a big problem for the Netherlands. "If you look at the future, at the ageing population, at the increasing urbanisation, it is clear that we are going to need the people who are now in school. If you chase them away, we will be left with only the less-educated immigrants."

Harchaoui believes the discomfort doesn't come from Wilders alone, but increasingly from the other, mainstream parties. "If the other parties stood up for Muslims, we would have whole a different atmosphere in the Netherlands now."

Umar Mirza and Ehssane Gounou agree. Mirza: "I don't feel represented in Dutch politics. The other politicians are too shy. If it's okay for Wilders to talk like he does, well then the others should do the same." Gounou: "Occasionally someone will stick his neck out, but it is not convincing enough. Wilders can get a lot more radical still; it's time to take up the challenge."