Salafism

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb caused a social media uproar with an interview on NPO Radio 1 in which he said that "every Muslim is a bit of a salafist". PVV leader Geert Wilders called for Aboutaleb's resignation.

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.

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

Salafist organizations can be banned if they break the law, but the cabinet will not impose a general ban. The government will however, keep a closer eye on such organizations, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament.

According to The Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen, banning Salafist organizations is unconstitutional and undesirable, he said in an interview with NRC on Monday. This is in response to a motion in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of Parliament, asking the government to investigate opportunities for banning these organization, which they consider a breeding ground for violent jihadism.

Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher has called on representatives of the Turkish-Dutch, Kurdish and Alevi communities in the Netherlands to calm the tensions among the communities caused by events in Turkey.