Diane Elshout

On November 2, 2004, Theo van Gogh, enfant terrible of the Dutch film scene, was brutally killed. He was killed by an extremist, his belly used as a billboard for a letter explaining the murderous act. As many other extremists, the perpetrator misused an ideal to defend his actions. This murder somehow took the lid off the famous Dutch tolerance. According to the dictionary, tolerance means “to allow without protest.“ But we have been hearing a lot of rumblings lately and they are not always guided by reason.

It seems as if the Dutch were constipated by their tolerance and their thoughts and feelings are now looking for an immediate outlet. The less than noble thoughts that are being expressed come straight from “de onderbuik,“ the underbelly, the guts, where personal frustration, populism and inferiority complexes are all mixed up together. This human reaction has been well exploited by politics. Pim Fortuyn used it and died as its martyr; the knife in Theo‘s body is its metaphor.
The multicultural system has shown its ugly side and the different social groups are increasingly antagonistic. Instead of building bridges, politicians are creating a vacuum. The left and right wing are ...