Dutch newswires are reporting that Van Gogh’s killer was a close associate of a man suspected of terrorist activities who was arrested in June this year. Several maps of Dutch parliament turned up when his house was searched. This is hardly a surprise, the “lone nut” theory was applied to Fortuyn’s killer two years ago, but within a day it became clear that he was part of a radical animal rights group. So evidence is now building up that Van Gogh’s killer is linked to terrorist cells in The Netherlands. It was only a little while ago that links were discovered between these and the people behind the bombings in Madrid earlier this year.

Shortly before his death Van Gogh in an interview warned about the culture of intolerance that was spawned by the multicultural society. Here’s an excerpt that I translated:

Van Gogh laughs heartily about the call from a website of Dutch Imams to put a “writing restriction” on him. “Those who have taken this initiative want to present this call to the Dutch security services, the Minister of the Interior and Parliament. It was a gift from Allah, they are even more stupid than I thought they were” says Van Gogh.

This call highlights exactly what the problem is. “It comes from people who don’t have a clue about democracy. In Holland in 1966 you could ridicule God but after a court case those who were responsible were acquitted. These people have never realized that. We’ve got a long way to go in our great multicultural society”.

Van Gogh lashes out against a culture of what he describes as “report the neighbors if they say something negative about a Turkish person at the local discrimination reporting center. This culture of reporting one another. The thought police. Typical for the Labour Party, typically 1970s and 1980s Dutch. Yes, we’ve got to pay for that now. It’s going to happen. The price we’re paying is our freedom. I can’t even say or write what I think.”

Yet Van Gogh is nuanced when he talks about Islam. “Let’s be honest. There is a significant number of very reasonable Muslims that are not prepared to pull the trigger” Van Gogh wouldn’t be Van Gogh if he adds that “Well, if everyone is starting to get scared over a fifth column of goat-fuckers, as I call them, then the debate in this country will pretty soon be over”

With Van Gogh’s death that debate has indeed become more difficult. It was precisely what Fortuyn warned about before his death and is the essence of the impending conflict in Europe: a liberal democratic society is coming increasingly under pressure of a rapidly growing part of its population that sees nothing wrong in stifling debate and physically harming dissenters.