Tonen har tatt farve av reaksjonen den beskriver: den er besk og bitter. Nederlenderne skryter ikke lenger av toleranse som fremste dyd.

Det kalles «Education by Death»: Nederlenderne er blitt som neocons i Amerika. Vil det skje andre steder?

Myndighetene forsøker å dempe, glatte over: har trykt buttons med bilde av en bie, og teksten: Bee tolerant. Innfører nasjonalitetseksamener, og vil utvise 26.000 ulovlige innvandrere. Men det kommer sent. Det gjærer et raseri.

I daresay this anger is exacerbated every time a ‘moderate’ imam appears on television to announce that although he regretted the murder of Theo van Gogh, he’s nonetheless very glad indeed that he’s dead. This happened just a few weeks ago.

Marerittet er den demografiske utviklingen:

There are broader fears at large. One recent study suggested that within six years at least three large Dutch cities will have an effective Muslim majority. There’s also the nightmare scenario of the Low Countries’ caliphate. There are enormous and growing Muslim populations in towns and cities dotted along the coast from Lille to Rotterdam — populations which will one day be in the majority. That’ll put an end to the booze cruises, then.

Ian Buruma skrev fra Amsterdam at det var helt vanlig med skoler hvor 60 prosent av elevene hadde innvandrerbakgrunn.

Ron Liddle har et poeng: nederlandsk nasjonalisme er undergravd av Brussel-lojalitet. Nederland ga opp sin sterke valuta, gylden, et nasjonalt symbol. EU-integrasjon i dybden har vært viktigere enn nasjonal identet.

Holland is a small country which has become accustomed to not throwing its weight around. It gave up the guilder without much of a fuss. Its very language seems happy to take a back seat: you will find Dutch far less in evidence at Schiphol airport, for example, than you would find Welsh at Cardiff-Wales airport, and the language of Holland’s capital city is, effectively, English.

How, then, do you attempt to inculcate a belief in unity and nationhood among new citizens when the nation is withering away in front of you? For the Islamists, democracy and nationhood are subordinate to the will of Allah, but for too long Holland has ceded its own democracy and nationhood — and language and currency — to Brussels. Brussels versus Allah. I wonder who would win?

The Spectator.co.uk