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Search Results from Peaktalk
Remember that I translated parts of Theo van Gogh's online columns a few years ago? A Dutch writer by the name of Erik Weijers has found more stuff worth translating and has done so here. Enjoy....
Posted in Peaktalk on March 28, 2007 04:34 PM
"The Scream" was finaly unveiled yesterday in Amsterdam. As you may recall, the idea to remember the murdered filmmaker in this way ran into some predictable resistance, but finally it is here. Judging from the various Dutch press reports only...
Posted in Peaktalk on March 19, 2007 04:56 PM
This time it is Hitchens who takes on Buruma and Garton Ash who have relegated our good Dutch-Somali heroine to the absolutist corner and questioned her ‘enlightenment-fundamentalism’. As you may recall Buruma is one of the more nuanced writer-historians who...
Posted in Peaktalk on March 6, 2007 12:00 AM
Watch the videos here and here. It's weird in a sense to see the Hirsi Ali avalanche and the excited media reactions to it, but for the Dutch and those who have been following her amazing journey it is hardly...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 7, 2007 04:45 PM
The first review of the Buscemi remake of Theo van Gogh's Interview is in – it’s playing at Sundance - and it isn't all that enthusiastic. There probably will be more comments on the film in days to come, all...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 21, 2007 08:02 PM
I've received a number of e-mails from readers asking about Steve Buscemi's remake of Theo van Gogh's film Interview. Well, it's done and you can go and see it this week at the Sundance Festival. More details here. New York...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 15, 2007 07:42 AM
Theo van Gogh continues to attract visitors to this site and some of them send me long e-mails with their thoughts, ideas or in one particular case with a story of a chance encounter with the man himself. A reader...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 9, 2007 12:00 AM
Ayaan Hirsi’s tainted relationship with her adoptive homeland. The latest: The [Dutch] cabinet has denied that it put Ayaan Hirsi Ali in political isolation following the terrorist murder of Theo van Gogh. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin rejects suggestions that...
Posted in Peaktalk on December 10, 2006 07:37 PM
The latest Dutch poll numbers are out, and they confirm the trend that incumbent prime-minister Balkenende is solidifying his lead over Labour’s Wouter Bos. And the dynamics of the battle between the two men is clear: In a poll in...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 6, 2006 12:00 AM
They keep coming, and each has its own particular angle. Rogier van Bakel - another Dutchman who has opted for life on the other side of the ocean - considers the attitudes of one of van Gogh's Muslim protegés and...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 3, 2006 07:03 AM
My column for Pajamas Media - about Van Gogh of course - is now up, together with another translated video. This may be a good point to thank Roger Simon - a moviemaker himself - for his relentless support in...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2006 03:17 PM
Today it is exactly two years ago that Theo van Gogh was murdered. Over the past few days I have written about some aspects of the murder and the incredible threats we face these days when it comes to ‘free...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2006 07:09 AM
Some of you may recall the charged debate about a monument for Theo van Gogh. Initially, the district city council was reluctant to have it in its neighborhood, afraid as it was to inflame ‘certain emotions’. That is all in...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2006 12:00 AM
Here are the details of the sermon in which Sjeik Fawaz of the As Soennah mosque in The Hague called for Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali to contract incurable diseases to the extent that they would eventually be...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 1, 2006 09:40 AM
As you have noticed, this week is focused entirely on Theo van Gogh, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and free speech. Two years after Theo's death it seems nothing has changed, in fact, things are getting progressively worse in Europe. The latest...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 1, 2006 07:51 AM
According to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, it is only the liberation of women that can bring about lasting reform in the Muslim world. It has been the core piece of her agenda as an "enlightenment fundamentalist" as it is called these...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 31, 2006 07:03 AM
One of the core themes in all my writings about the Theo van Gogh murder has been that the mainstream media in most of the world was not well equipped to understand the complexities of Dutch society and the...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 30, 2006 12:00 AM
I have been a longtime fan of Camille Paglia, in particular because she is a non-conventional thinker and able to destruct both the left and the right with her razor sharp wit. The interview with her yesterday in Salon -...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 28, 2006 12:00 AM
This is a Dutch expression, and you probably understand its deeper meaning. Consider this: The Dutch parliament ordered an investigation Thursday into how much the country's top intelligence agency service knew about an Islamic extremist before he shot and stabbed...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 25, 2006 02:07 PM
Reporters Without Borders has released its annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, and you can find the rankings here. The nature of the annual effort is probably not entirely unbiased when you start reading the accompanying notes:The United States (53rd) has...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 24, 2006 12:00 AM
Paul Vallely in the Independent takes on those that have been so keen on defending free speech in the wake of the long line of incidents where Muslim sensibilities were offended. He argues: But in many places there is a...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 4, 2006 07:30 AM
Yes, Pope Benedict XVI fits into that long line of polemicists who have in- or unintentionally run afoul of the Muslim world as Der Spiegel argues here. Rushdie, Hirsi Ali and of course Theo van Gogh come to mind. But...
Posted in Peaktalk on September 19, 2006 06:30 AM
Those that are familiar with my thinking on jihadist terror will not be taken aback by my initial reaction this morning which essentially was, are we in any way surprised? Digesting the details – there is lots of information here...
Posted in Peaktalk on August 10, 2006 02:52 PM
Ever since the Van Gogh murder I have been hammering on the fact that the conflict with radical Islam is one of religion, where religion is the cohesive and ideological gel that fuels and sustains jihad. Any attempt to give...
Posted in Peaktalk on August 9, 2006 12:00 AM
Remember the objections against a monument to remember Theo Van Gogh and how officials changed course after the ensuing debate? Well, the sculpture is ready, almost: A sculpture in memory of murdered film director Theo van Gogh will be unveiled...
Posted in Peaktalk on August 8, 2006 07:40 AM
My friends at The Augean Stables nail it once again: Anyone who thinks that Holland “woke up” after Theo Van Gogh’s murder needs to rethink. Not only was it the “progressive camp” that did Ali in politically, and her good,...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 17, 2006 12:00 AM
For posterity, in its entirety: I came to Holland in the summer of 1992 because I wanted to be able to determine my own future. I didn’t want to be forced into a destiny that other people had chosen for...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 16, 2006 07:23 PM
Dutch parliament has convened for an emergency session following the highly controversial maneuvers from Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk to declare that Hirsi Ali’s citizenship is likely to be revoked. Arjan Dasselaar is liveblogging events as they unfold in his usual...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 16, 2006 09:04 AM
Yesterday was remembrance day in the The Netherlands, a solemn day during which the victims of WWII are remembered. Now, sixty years on this day has become the target of incidents and deliberate desecrations, like the one three years ago...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 5, 2006 09:30 AM
It looks like I will be on the Tammy Bruce show at 10:30 Pacific Time to talk about the latest violent installment of the Theo van Gogh affair. Listen to it here. UPDATE: Think that went well, sorry for the...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 24, 2006 10:06 AM
Ebru Umar, a Dutch writer of Turkish descent and a good friend of the late Theo van Gogh - she contributed to his website and took over one of his columns after his death - was attacked in Amsterdam on...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 24, 2006 12:00 AM
In all my writings about Theo van Gogh never did I pay any real attention to the famous brother of his great-grandfather, Vincent. It wasn't immediately relevant to the story - apart from Theo's rants about royalties the Dutch...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 8, 2006 11:05 AM
Even though the subject matter is not Islam, the mere association with Theo van Gogh tends to be a risky undertaking according to this news snippet:A bodyguard will protect Sienna Miller against attacks from fanatical Muslims during the making of...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 2, 2006 08:00 PM
Of course since the AIVD - the Dutch intelligence service - blundered its way through the entire Van Gogh episode, there is reason to believe that they are now over-cautious in assessing and predicting the dangers of a world of...
Posted in Peaktalk on March 30, 2006 11:28 AM
Is the neo-con movement past its peak? Judge for yourself when you evaluate Francis Fukuyama thought provoking piece in the NYT. There are three things worth noting as they reflect themes often presented here on Peaktalk: What is initially universal...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 20, 2006 12:40 PM
For the many new visitors coming to Peaktalk - and in light of this week's events - there is a comprehensive file on Pim Fortuyn as well as on Theo van Gogh. Both men by the way recognized early on...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 4, 2006 10:42 AM
Today both the Danish and Norwegian embasssies in Damascus, Syria were set on fire amid a flurry of protests on numerous locations in the world. Here are some interesting links for today: Michelle Malkin has produced her own short video...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 4, 2006 09:51 AM
The storm over the Danish cartoons continues unabated, and it’s always interesting to check out how the Dutch are treating the affair. The respected NRC Handelsblad did run – like many other European newspapers – one of the cartoons, but...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 1, 2006 04:35 PM
Despite fairly stringent security measures - welcome to the new world of critical moviemaking - Roger Simon got to see some excerpts from Theo Van Gogh's Submission I at the American Film Renaissance festival: I had seen Submission, Theo van...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 16, 2006 12:39 PM
Is in the works and it will prove to be every bit as controversial as the first edition. Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali has started working on the sequel which will focus on Islam’s hostility towards gays. Being well aware...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 20, 2005 10:11 AM
A new book is out from the hands of historian Faisal Devji entitled Landscapes of the Jihad, which tries to find a new way to look at al-Qaeda and its alleged global strategy. Devji contends that using traditional geographical, political...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 14, 2005 12:00 AM
It wasn’t that the moviemaker wasn’t aware of it, more than once had he been threatened. “You dead!” shouted one Muslim immigrant at him, and the moviemaker had laughed him off: “Come back when you’ve learned some proper Dutch!”. On...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2005 12:00 AM
The one year anniversary of the Theo van Gogh murder is coming up and you can expect a longer piece here this coming Wednesday as well as a radio appearance by yours truly on the same day to talk about...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 29, 2005 09:54 AM
We're edigng closer to the one-year anniversary of Theo van Gogh's murder, and a lot has changed in The Netherlands since then. For one: Dutch security forces are far more pro-active and today they foiled a series of planned attacks...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 14, 2005 07:55 AM
Europe’s left is waking up, slowly but steadily. My old friend Wouter Bos, leader of the Dutch Social-Democrats opened a conference for European Socialists with a few statements that a decade ago would have landed him in court, I translate:...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 7, 2005 09:47 AM
Here's the transcript of the speech the president gave today at the National Endownment for Democracy. While some have argued that there was "nothing new", I think the entire structure of the speech, weaving all the incidents of jihadist violence...
Posted in Peaktalk on October 6, 2005 10:38 AM
Well, it seems Roger's call has been heard, although rather than speaking out against the murder of one of their colleagues the focus will be on producing three remakes of Theo van Gogh originals: The films of the murdered Dutch...
Posted in Peaktalk on September 14, 2005 06:04 PM
Bryan Preston draws the analogies between the violent deaths of Theo van Gogh and Steven Vincent in his Techcentral Station column, Vincent and Van Gogh....
Posted in Peaktalk on August 8, 2005 07:20 AM
For now at least, is for Theo Van Gogh's mother: "What is so regrettable after this trial is that Theo has been murdered by such a loser, such an incoherent person. Murder or manslaughter is always a terrible thing but...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 27, 2005 12:05 AM
Of course, lots of e-mail yesterday about the sentence for Van Gogh’s killer, many arguing that the only option should have been the death penalty. Well, in Europe that route simply isn’t open even if the Dutch would want it...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 27, 2005 12:00 AM
The court has just sentenced Bouyeri (at 10:26 AM local Dutch time) to life in prison without parole. I'm off to bed as it is 1:30 AM here, but this post will be updated throughout the day with comments, translations...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 26, 2005 01:30 AM
Leon de Winter today sums up the situation in Holland for the NYT in Tolerating a Time Bomb, calling for the emergence of a politician with Fortuyn-like qualities. While De Winter too easily attributes the "time bomb" to the traditional...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 16, 2005 10:18 AM
The prosecution has just delivered its closing arguments and demanded a life sentence for Bouyeri. Let’s just summarize what the defendant is actually accused of: (1) The premeditated murder of Theo van Gogh – with the aggravating condition that he...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 12, 2005 07:09 AM
Yesterday I highlighted that Theo van Gogh’s mother during her victim impact statement mentioned that she was deeply grieved that the city council for Oost/Watergraafsmeer (the part of Amsterdam where Theo lived and was killed), did not want to see...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 12, 2005 12:05 AM
Today the trial of Van Gogh killer Mohammed Bouyeri kicks-off in Amsterdam. It will be interesting given the fact that (and this comes from a variety of Dutch news sources that I read over the weekend): 1. Bouyeri was found...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 11, 2005 12:02 AM
Of course the rush to compare the London attacks to the Madrid bombings inevitably steers the debate to the erroneous conclusion that the carnage was prompted by the British presence in Iraq. Kate McMillan was quick to point out today...
Posted in Peaktalk on July 7, 2005 09:12 PM
More emigration facts from The Netherlands today, with an increasing number of people indicating their wish to leave. Interestingly, the origins of the desire to pack up and go differ depending on what source you want to believe: In total,...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 11, 2005 12:49 PM
Today it is three years ago that Pim Fortuyn was shot by an animal rights activist, ending the life of a great political mind and someone who was very close to becoming prime-minister of the troubled Dutch nation. Pim’s impact...
Posted in Peaktalk on May 6, 2005 12:39 AM
It started last night with putting a quick post together around an interview with Dutch Queen Beatrix, but instead of doing that I first watched the entire two-hour and twenty minute documentary (two parts) about her 25 years as a...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 30, 2005 08:25 AM
The NYT ran a short profile of Amsterdam's mayor, Job Cohen, in its Sunday edition. Cohen has ever since 9/11 been under severe criticism from the resurgent Dutch right who perceives him as the embodiment of the soft, multiculturalist approach...
Posted in Peaktalk on April 26, 2005 09:55 AM
Just returned home for a very agreeable weekend in arguably Vancouver’s best hotel suite. Irene won two-nights at the Pan Pacific, the Royal Suite no less including dinner and breakfast, at a local business function a few weeks ago. It...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 27, 2005 03:41 PM
It’s been a while since I discussed the Van Gogh affair and that partly has been caused by the fact that there hasn’t been an awful lot of news to report. Dan Darling at Winds however has a fairly detailed...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 21, 2005 08:18 PM
An e-mail from a reader highlights the American exasperation over European attitudes: Americans can take care of ourselves but is Europe ever going to wake out of its slumber? The irony of a free election in Iraq at a time...
Posted in Peaktalk on February 2, 2005 12:39 PM
The trial against Van Gogh’s killer kicked off yesterday with preliminary hearings. In a surprising move the prosecution asked that the defendant be subject to a psychiatric evaluation, something the defense strongly rejected: Defence lawyer Peter Plasman said his client...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 26, 2005 12:24 PM
Imagine being robbed of your bag when you are stepping into your car, what would you do? It’s hard to say but I’ll bet that most of us will act on impulse without coherently thinking through the implications. You can...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 21, 2005 09:00 AM
One of the key questions I got after the Van Gogh murder was from readers all over America arguing that this was surely the wake-up call that would help Europeans, and in particular the Dutch, re-assess their general dislike of...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 18, 2005 12:00 AM
Experimental photographer James Bailey e-mails me to talk about his Anti-Options 05, a littoral art project dedicated to those who have given their lives in defense of freedom of artistic expression. And as James explains, Theo van Gogh was one...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 13, 2005 12:00 AM
After the explosion of news and analysis after the Van Gogh murder last year, things appeared to have calmed down a bit in the low countries, but interesting snippets of news do appear from time to time. Today it emerged...
Posted in Peaktalk on January 12, 2005 03:55 PM
One of my plans was to, before the year is over; translate some of the most salient bits from Theo van Gogh’s website, De Gezonde Roker or in English: The Healthy Smoker. He covered lots of topics and although not...
Posted in Peaktalk on December 13, 2004 12:01 AM
Nothing is sacred to the jihadists. Dutch police have arrested a man of Moroccan descent who was part of a group that was planning to attack Amsterdam’s world-famous red-light district: Muslim extremists, the paper said, were allegedly furious at the...
Posted in Peaktalk on December 10, 2004 12:33 PM
More moderate Muslims take to the streets, this time in Norway: The march, initiated by NRK's (Norwegian Broadcasting) Mubashir, comes largely in response to the recent killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist. Van Gogh's murder...
Posted in Peaktalk on December 3, 2004 10:16 AM
November was – together with the US Presidential Election – the month of the Van Gogh killing and many argued that the Dutch had now experienced their 9/11. I was skeptical about that notion from day one, knowing very well...
Posted in Peaktalk on December 1, 2004 12:00 AM
There have been many different responses from Europeans to the Van Gogh killing, from politically correct appeasement to xenophobic rhetoric with those stuck in the center struggling to condense their fury into palatable proposals. The view from the Muslim side...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 24, 2004 12:07 AM
My mother sent me a thick envelope with various items on Van Gogh that you can’t really find online. It included telling accounts of his life, his loves, his son, his career and his phenomenal capability to piss everyone one...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 20, 2004 09:14 PM
NOTE: This post only contains entries written during the immediate aftermath of the murder. The entire Van Gogh file is here. Since the Van Gogh murder had an impact on many different areas I filed my posts about the affair...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 17, 2004 12:09 AM
Today the Dutch formalized their decision to pull their military out of Iraq when their second term policing the Samawah area ends in March. For anyone hastily jumping to conclusions: this is not in response to the Van Gogh murder....
Posted in Peaktalk on November 12, 2004 05:36 PM
In a time frame of ten days we have gone from one disgruntled Moroccan to a Moroccan group to an international network of terrorists behind or somehow linked to the Van Gogh murder. The latest installment however is truly jaw-dropping...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 12, 2004 12:00 AM
The Van Gogh murder and its aftermath continue to have a big impact on both sides of the ocean. Yesterday the Daily Telegraph had a very good piece and it's interesting to see that many are well versed in Dutch...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 11, 2004 12:01 AM
Is the Lou Reed song that was played at the end of Theo Van Gogh’s farewell ceremony earlier today. If you want to have an idea of what went on – including speeches from his parents, sisters and friends –...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 9, 2004 02:38 PM
It's been a week now since the Van Gogh killing and to date not a word from Van Gogh's colleagues in Hollywood says Roger Simon. It's an interesting point and the idea that the horrific events in Amsterdam were overshadowed...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 9, 2004 12:15 AM
The key question after all the great analysis of the Van Gogh murder and its origins is, where do we go from here? The Dutch cabinet yesterday announced a set of drastic measures to more effectively wage the war on...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 6, 2004 12:03 AM
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...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2004 04:50 PM
My inbox this morning was full of e-mail from Dutch readers pointing me to the murder of Theo van Gogh, a renowned Dutch filmmaker. Van Gogh had taken a critical view of Islam following 9/11, strongly supported slain Dutch politician...
Posted in Peaktalk on November 2, 2004 10:03 AM
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