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Theo van Gogh (film director)

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Theo van Gogh (July 23, 1957–November 2, 2004) was a controversial Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor. A self-proclaimed descendant of the brother of the famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, he was apparently murdered by a Dutch-Moroccan assassin angered by van Gogh's work and criticism of Islam.

Theo van Gogh (23 July 1957–2 November 2004)

Life

Van Gogh was born in The Hague. His great-grandfather was art dealer Theo van Gogh, brother of Vincent van Gogh. After dropping out of law school he became a stage manager. He debuted as a director with the movie Luger (1981). He received a Gouden Kalf ("Golden Calf", the Dutch equivalent of the Oscar) for Blind Date (1996) and In het belang van de staat ("In the Interest of the State", 1997). As an actor he appeared in the production De noorderlingen ("The Northerners", 1992). After that, he worked for television and wrote provocative columns for Metro and other newspapers.

His last book (2003) was Allah weet het beter ("Allah Knows Best") in which he - in his typical cynical, mocking tone - presented his views on Islam. He was a well-known critic of Islam, especially after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He supported the nomination of liberal (former PvdA [labour] party), Somalian-born female politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali for Dutch parliament. As of 2004, she is a Member of Parliament for the (right-wing) VVD party, which advocates limits to the admission of especially Muslim immigrants into the country.

Together with Hirsi Ali, van Gogh created the 10-minute movie Submission. The film is about violence against women in Islamic societies. It shows four abused women, naked under see-through dresses with Qur'anic verses in Arabic unfavourable to women, painted on their bodies. After the movie was released, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats. Van Gogh did not take these very seriously and refused any protection.

As a newspaper columnist, he was known for being provocative and politically incorrect. He caused resentment in the Moroccan community by consistently referring to them as "geitenneukers" (goatfuckers), and incurred the wrath of leading members of the Jewish community by making comments about, as he saw it, the Jewish preoccupation with Auschwitz. He was also a staunch supporter of President Bush, and the American-led invasion of Iraq.

Van Gogh was a member of the Dutch republican society Republikeins Genootschap which advocates the abolition of the Dutch monarchy, and a friend and supporter of the controversial Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who was assasinated in 2002.

Death

Van Gogh was murdered in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam in front of the Amsterdam East borough office (stadsdeelkantoor) on the corner of the Linnaeusstraat and Tweede Oosterparkstraat streets. He was shot with seven bullets and died on the spot. His throat was slit, and he was then stabbed in the chest. Two knives were left inplanted in his torso, one pinning a 5 page note to his body. The note threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding). The note also contains references to the ideologies of the Egyptian organization Takfir wal-Hijra.

Arnaud de Borchgrave wrote:

What Dutch filmmaker and columnist Theo Van Gogh saw as the shabby treatment of females throughout the Muslim community led him to produce documentaries that portrayed Muslim men as tormentors of women, especially their wives. One recent scathingly critical Van Gogh film carried the message that Islam promotes violence against women. Last week, Van Gogh, a grandnephew of the painter, was shot as he cycled to work. He managed to get up and stagger across the street to his building where he collapsed. The assailant followed him and slit his throat before pinning to his chest with a knife a five-page manifesto that called on Muslims to rise against the "infidel enemies" in the West. [1]

The alleged killer Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old man of Dutch and Moroccan nationalities, was apprehended by the police after being shot in the leg. Although born in Amsterdam, well-educated and apparently well-integrated, Bouyeri became a Muslim extremist and has alleged terrorist ties. In the Dutch media the suspect is called Mohammed B., since it is common practice in The Netherlands to abbreviate the surnames of crime suspects (or even convicts) in order to protect their privacy. He is also charged with attempted murder of a police officer and bystander, illegal possession of a firearm, and conspiring to murder others, including Hirsi Ali.

Until his death Van Gogh was working on a movie (0605) about the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. The film is set for premiere on December 15, 2004 on the internet through a Dutch ISP, which also financed the movie.

Van Gogh was cremated on november 9 2004 in Amsterdam.

Aftermath

The day after the murder Dutch police arrested eight Islamic radicals. Six detainees are of Moroccan origin, one is Algerian and one has dual Spanish-Moroccan nationality. By November 11, 18 religious sites (mainly Muslim, with some Christian) had been vandalized or subjected to arson.

The murder has led to a wider and more polarized debate about the position of the more than one million Muslims in the Netherlands. Many ethnically Dutch citizens fear that Holland will lose its traditional tolerance and Western liberalism, becoming increasingly influenced by Islamic viewpoints on these issues, including the position of women in society and sexuality. These fears are fueled by population growth studies and projections that show the Muslim community growing much faster than that of the "autochtonen" (autochthonous Dutch). In the four largest Dutch cities, the majority among children under 14 are Muslims. [2] It is projected that the major Dutch cities will soon have a majority Islamic population. Many Islamic Dutch residents (most of whom now have Dutch citizenship or were even born in the Netherlands) feel discriminated against and singled out. The increasing polarization has led to calls from many religious leaders and politicians for calm and improved communication between the communities.

In an apparent reaction to derogatory statements about the Islamic, Christian and Jewish religions, such as those Theo van Gogh was renowned for, the Dutch Minister of Justice, Christian Democrat Piet Hein Donner suggested the existing Dutch blasphemy laws should either be applied more stringently or made more strict. This had led to a contrary motion by the liberal D66 party to scrap the blasphemy law altogether.

Independent Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders (who was previously forced to leave the right-wing VVD party because of his radical views) advocated a five-year halt to non-Western immigration in the wake of the murder of Theo van Gogh stating: "The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long, we should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country". [3]

In opposition to such anti-Islamic sentiments, campaigns for a kleurijk Nederland [colorful Holland], such as Stop de Hetze were started.

Works

Publications

Van Gogh contributed to various newspapers and magazines, often leaving these jobs after a quarrel.

He published the following books:

  • Engel ("Angel", 1990)
  • Er gebeurt nooit iets ("Nothing Ever Happens", 1993)
  • Sla ik mijn vrouw wel hard genoeg? ("Do I Beat My Wife Hard Enough?", 1996)
  • De gezonde roker ("The healthy smoker", 2000)
  • Allah weet het beter ("Allah Knows Best", 2003)
  • De tranen van Mabel ("The tears of Mabel", with Tomas Ross, 2004)

Filmography

  • Luger (1982)
  • Een dagje naar het strand ("A Day at the Beach", 1984)
  • Charley (1986)
  • Terug naar Oegstgeest ("Back to Oegstgeest", 1987)
  • Loos ("Wild", 1989)
  • Vals licht ("False Light", 1993)
  • Ilse verandert de geschiedenis ("Ilse Changes History", 1993)
  • 06 (1994)
  • Reunie ("Reunion", 1994)
  • Eva (1994)
  • Een galerij: De wanhoop van de sirene ("A Gallery: The Despair of the Siren", 1994)
  • De Eenzame Oorlog Van Koos Tak ("Koos Tak's Lonely War", 1995)
  • Blind Date (1996)
  • Hoe ik mijn moeder vermoordde ("How I Killed My Mother", 1996)
  • In het belang van de staat ("In the Interest of the State", 1997)
  • Au ("Ouch", 1997)
  • De Pijnbank ("The Torture Bench", 1998)
  • Baby Blue (2001)
  • De nacht van Aalbers ("Aalbers's Night", 2001)
  • Najib en Julia (2002)
  • Interview (2003)
  • Zien ("Seeing", 2004)
  • Submission (2004)
  • Cool (2004)
  • 0605 (planned for release in 2004)
  • Medea (planned for release in 2005)
  • Bad (unfinished; production was planned for 2005)
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