Mayor Jan van Zanen of Utrecht and Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs are very concerned about developments around the alFitrah mosque in Overvecht. Asscher, also the Deputy Prime Minister, is calling on parents to keep their kids away from the mosque, DUIC reports.
religion
Dec 20 '16 13:40
The Vrije Universitieit in Amsterdam will soon be offering free Dutch language and culture courses to imams, Trouw reports.
Most of these Muslim clerics were trained in turkey, Morocco or Egypt and often only speak the language that they were trained in, according to the newspaper. They often also lack knowledge about life in the Netherlands. The Vrije Universiteit wants to offer them the opportunity to change this.
Dec 15 '16 08:05
Dutch people think that there are far more Muslims living in the Netherlands than is actually the case, according to a study by Ipsos Mori in 40 European countries, RTL Nieuws reports.
In the Netherlands, residents estimate that 19 percent of the current population is Muslim - nearly 1 in five people. The actual percentage is much lower - currently only 6 percent of the population have Islam as their religion. The Dutch estimate that by 2020, 26 percent of the population will be Muslim. In reality its only 7 percent.
Dec 2 '16 14:00
The Dutch hotline for internet discrimination MiND is facing heat after one of its employees suggested that hate speech against LGBT people is allowed as long as it is in the name of faith. Titus Visser, director of NL Confidential to which MiND belongs, apologized for this "error in judgement", the Volkskrant reports.
Nov 22 '16 09:48
The Wester Mosque in Amsterdam-West wants to amplify its call to prayer by making it from its minaret, despite previous agreements not to do so, Het Parool reports.
The wish of the mosque to make its call to prayer from the 42 meter high minaret came to light in the summer, to the dismay of the homeowners association of the adjascent residential complex. It was brought up again when Mayor Eberhard van der Laan visited the mosque last week. The Amsterdam VVD now wants to know what's going on.
Nov 7 '16 10:50
Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave the sermon in the Duinzicht church in The Hague on Sunday morning. He spoke about the role of religion and faith in society and about what it means for him. The Prime Minister is 51 percent sure that there is something more out there, but the other 49 percent of him has doubts, the Telegraaf reports.
Oct 25 '16 11:40
So far the Roman Catholic Church paid nearly 30 million euros in damages to Dutch victims of sexual abuse, De Limburger reports.
A complaint committee set up to investigate the abuse received a total of 3,678 reports of people being sexually abused in the Roman Catholic Church. Of these 2,060 were sent through for further investigation and 1,000 were determined to be grounded. At least 300 people dealt with exceptionally serious abuse, for which the compensation can be up to 100 thousand euros.
Oct 25 '16 10:41
The municipality of Rotterdam blocked the opening of a Salafist school in the former ROC building on Vorkstraat by buying the building itself, the Telegraaf reports.
Getting help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch embassy in Qatar, Rotterdam managed to convince the financers - Sheikh Eid Charitable Association - to drop their plans for the Salafist school. Part of the agreement was that the municipality will take over the building. Buying the building cost the municipality 1.7 million euros, the same amount the association paid for it.
Oct 18 '16 08:14
Homophobic flyers left in postboxes in Amsterdam-West in Nieuw-West over the weekend were spread by followers of controversial Turkish preacher Harun Yahya, the Volkskrant concludes based on its own research.
Oct 17 '16 08:16
A homophobic flyer left in post boxes in Amsterdam-West and Nieuw West on Sunday caused quite an uproar in the Dutch capital. The police are investigating the origin of this anti-gay flyer.
Oct 14 '16 14:35
Christian party SGP wants to ban mosques in the Netherlands from making their daily calls to prayer with the words "Allahu Akbar", party leader Kees van der Staaij said to broadcaster NOS. This ban is one of the points in the SGP's election campaign, which will be released in two weeks.
Sep 26 '16 11:40
A 30-year-old Dutch man was arrested in Myanmar on Friday after he disrupted a Buddhist ritual. He unplugged a amplifier used to amplify a sermon by Buddhist monks, local newspaper Myanmar Times reports.
Aug 19 '16 10:35
The Dutch government has no plans to ban the so-called Burkini - full body swimwear worn by mostly Muslim women, Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher said to RTL Nieuws, calling it a "bizarre idea".
Aug 2 '16 10:54
Pastafarians - believers in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - are not allowed to wear colanders on their heads while taking the picture for their ID card, the court in Groningen ruled
Jul 15 '16 16:00
The council for Moroccan mosques in the Netherlands RMMN released a statement condemning the terrorist attack in Nice, France on Thursday night. The council calls on its members and all mosques to dedicate a prayer to the victims and their families during Friday prayers
May 25 '16 09:40
More than half of all the Islamic institutions and businesses in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region faced discrimination last year and in the first three months of this. In the same period more than 700 Muslims in the region also reported being threatened or unfair treatment because of their religion, according to a study by umbrella organization SPIOR
May 4 '16 14:50
Gay interest group COC is furious at the Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses community about a children's video placed on their site explaining why marriage should be between a man and a woman. The organization is calling for the video to be removed
May 3 '16 09:11
Officials working at the Immigration and Naturalization Service will soon be trained in a basic course on Islam. Among other things, they will be trained on how to tell the difference between a religious Muslim and an extremist
Apr 14 '16 10:12
Another two arrests were made in connection with a Molotov cocktail thrown at a mosque in Enschede in February. Two men aged 24 and 36 were arrested in Enschede on Tuesday, on suspicion of consipiracy and preparation for arson with terrorist intent
Apr 11 '16 16:10
The joint Woerden faction of Christian parties ChristenUnie and SGP are protesting against former porn star Bobbi Eden opening the town's annual festival. Chairman Simon Brouwer thinks it inappropriate to use a subsidy to bring the porn actress to the town.
Apr 11 '16 14:45
The Protestant Church in the Netherlands on Monday officially condemned the antisemitic statements made by Martin Luther. This is the first time the church does so.
Apr 7 '16 10:36
VVD leader Halbe Zijlstra forced one of his parliamentarians, Sjoerd Potters, to withdraw a legislative proposal on the status of religious organization in the Netherlands. According to Zijlstra, the bill "does not suit the VVD vision"
Mar 31 '16 11:30
Despite empty churches, roughly 50 percent of Dutch still find religious ceremony important when it comes to weddings, funerals and baptisms, according to a study done by the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI). Between 1990 and 2008 there was hardly any change in how Dutch people value religious ceremonies.
Mar 30 '16 12:32
The public prosecution office in the Netherlands demanded that Bart van U. serve an eight-year prison sentence and mandatory psychiatric treatment for the murders of his sister, Lois, and former health minister Els Borst. In its closing argument, the prosecution pushed for two manslaughter convictions instead of murder, saying that Van U. “was of a greatly diminished mental capacity” at the time of the crimes.
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