Since I moved to the Netherlands, I have been reading and researching about the country. I am impressed by the stories of surviving the hunger winter during World War II, of the stories from immigrants from very different parts of the world that come to the Netherlands to work hard, of the general feel of tolerance and freedom for which this country is known for.<\/p>\n
However, there is a part of the history that isn\u2019t as impressive. The book Murder in Amsterdam<\/em> by Iam Buruma tells one of those stories. Theo van Gogh (great grandchild to Vincent van Gogh\u2019s brother, Theo van Gogh) was a film producer, writer, journalist and an overall big personality in the Netherlands. Theo was, however, very critical of immigrants in the Netherlands, particularly immigrants for Morocco. He was also very critical of Islam, which is why he joined forces with a former Dutch politician, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to make the movie Submission<\/em> in which the violence against women in some Islamic societies was questioned.<\/p>\n \u00a0This film brought van Gogh and Hirsi Ali a lot of attention; they began receiving death threats because some felt they had insulted Allah. Sadly, this didn\u2019t end in threats. On November 2nd<\/sup>, 2004, Theo van Gogh was murdered while he was riding his bike on his way to work. The man who killed him, Mohamed Bouyeri is serving a life sentence.<\/p>\n Ian Buruma\u2019s book is an interesting analysis of what happened before and after the murder. Buruma looks into van Gogh\u2019s life and public actions as well as Bouyeri\u2019s. In an attempt to remain neutral so that the evidence speaks for itself, Buruma seems at times vague or unsure of his claim. However, I think this is a minor set back of the book. Buruma includes a lot of interesting research that gives light to both sides. Although the book deals with a dark chapter of the Netherlands, it leaves the reader with important questions about tolerance, freedom of speech and religion.<\/p>\n Buruma, I. (2006). Murder in Amsterdam<\/em>. New York: Penguin Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since I moved to the Netherlands, I have been reading and researching about the country. I am impressed by the stories of surviving the hunger winter during World War II, of the stories from immigrants from very different parts of the world that come to the Netherlands to work hard, of the general feel of…<\/p>\n