US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE3008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 003008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PINR, PTER, SOCI, SCUL, KISL, NL, KPAO 
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/EXTREMISM: "MOHAMMAD B'S" NEIGHBORHOOD 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE HANDLE 
ACCORDINGLY. 
 
1.(SBU) SUMMARY: Overtoomseveld is a "Moroccan" neighborhood 
in Western Amsterdam, made notorious on November 2, 2004 
when native son Mohammed Bouyeri murdered filmmaker Theo van 
Gogh on an Amsterdam street in broad daylight.  One year 
later, it remains a largely segregated community, in many 
ways more Arab than Dutch.  Over the last year, Embassy and 
Consulate officials visited this economically depressed 
neighborhood several times and established contacts with 
local Muslim and non-Muslim residents, at least one of whom 
knew Bouyeri prior to the murder.  Despite local police and 
community outreach programs, Dutch authorities worry that 
Muslim minority youth in segregated neighborhoods like 
Overtoomseveld remain prime targets for recruitment by 
Islamic extremist groups because of their alienation from 
broader Dutch society and limited economic opportunities. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD 
--------------------------- 
 
2.(SBU) Overtoomseveld in West Amsterdam is a neighborhood 
of approximately 8,000 residents. It lies just outside 
Amsterdam's "ring" motorway, but only a ten-minute bike-ride 
from the down-town area.  In contrast to the 18th and 19th 
century buildings on the other side of the ring, housing in 
Overtoomseveld consists primarily of concrete, pre- 
fabricated apartment blocs built during the 1960's and 70's 
to provide housing for low-income Dutch families. 
 
3.(SBU) Until the 1980s the neighborhood  was almost 
exclusively "white," working-class Dutch.  According to 
local contacts, however, about 80 percent of the residents 
of Overtoomseveld today are non-indigenous Dutch 
("allochtonen") of Moroccan or other Arab descent.  As 
Moroccan immigrants gradually moved in, many white families 
with the economic means to do so moved to single-family 
houses in other parts of the city or in the more distant 
suburbs. 
 
4.(SBU) The Muslim character of Overtoomseveld is 
immediately apparent to the casual visitor.  Women are more 
visible on balconies (usually with small children) than on 
the street, and nearly all wear headscarves.  Arabic 
language shop-window signs and graffiti -- much of it anti- 
American -- are common. 
 
THE DISH AND THE MINARET 
------------------------ 
 
5.(SBU) Although fairly tidy by U.S. standards, 
Overtoomseveld is considered "run-down" by the immaculate 
Dutch.  There is more litter and graffiti than in other 
parts of the city, and properties, usually owned by absentee 
landlords, show signs of neglect such as broken windows and 
stoops.  Within Amsterdam's Moroccan community, it is common 
for large extended families to share small rental 
apartments, creating additional strains on the poorly 
constructed structures.  The government subsidizes most of 
the council housing in the neighborhood, and is a 
significant source of income through the provision of 
unemployment, rent support and social welfare benefits. 
 
6.(SBU) The large number of satellite dishes, used to beam 
in Arabic stations such as al Jazeera, have earned 
Overtoomseveld the derogatory sobriquet of a "dish city" in 
Dutch.  Satellite television is cheaper than Dutch cable and 
provides a direct link to the "home" cultures of many 
immigrants, but many non-immigrant Dutch criticize the 
prevalence of satellite broadcasting as insulating immigrant 
communities from mainstream Dutch culture and encouraging 
segregation. 
 
7.(SBU) The neighborhood's one Moroccan mosque plays a 
critical role in satisfying residents' spiritual and 
cultural needs.  When Emboff visited the mosque during the 
middle of the afternoon, there were about 20 middle-aged men 
inside.  One English speaker graciously offered a tour 
around the mosque.  The mosque has a food store and 
classrooms for the 100 children aged 6-12 attending Arabic 
and Koran classes on weekends.  Like elsewhere in the 
Netherlands, the imam speaks little Dutch and was imported 
from Morocco.  On Fridays, the mosque has an overflow 
capacity and worshippers spill into the streets for prayers. 
The imam has a cordial relationship with local police -- 
there is a police station next door -- and has cooperated 
with police requests to disperse worshippers quickly after 
prayers to avoid congestion. 
 
THE PROBLEM OF YOUTH 
-------------------- 
 
8.(SBU) During non-school hours, groups of young men and 
boys hang out on the neighborhood's streets and stoops with 
little to do.  As a result, incidents of petty crime and 
vandalism are high.  During a recent visit by Emboffs, 
several groups of young boys were gathered outside two 
neighborhood internet cafes.  According to local contacts, 
one of these cafes -- across from a police station -- had 
earlier been used by members of the extremist "Hofstad 
group," including Bouyeri.  Local police regularly drop in 
on these cafes and report seeing "Arabic" websites being 
accessed; few have the language skills, however, to 
determine what sort of information is being shared. 
 
9.(SBU) Neighborhood youth are also active graffiti artists; 
when the Consul General and emboffs toured the neighborhood 
in late September, graffiti on apartment buildings included 
obscenities against President Bush, adoration for Saddam 
Hussein and several HAMAS-related displays.  According to 
police contacts, local police are now trained to monitor 
amounts and types of graffiti as signs of radicalism. 
 
10.(SBU) In 1998, riots between Moroccan youth and Dutch 
police in several cities soured already bad relations 
between the two groups.  In response, a number of community 
initiatives were launched, such as the establishment of 
police "Youth Coordinators" in various neighborhoods to 
enhance dialogue between the police and Moroccan youth. 
While the focus of these efforts originally was to reduce 
petty crime, it has now shifted to combating radicalization. 
The neighborhood watch group, "Neighborhood Fathers," is 
another organization established to reduce crime that has 
now taken on a counter-extremism focus. 
 
REACHING OUT TO RADICALS 
------------------------ 
 
11.(SBU) According to Amsterdam West Youth Coordinator Tom 
Smakman, Overtoomseveld is not the toughest neighborhood in 
Amsterdam, but it is the most likely to produce radicals. 
Smakman claimed this was because of the density of the 
population and the level of poverty among its residents: 
"People know that there are a lot of frustrated youths in 
this neighborhood."  He stressed that police are less 
worried about what takes place on the streets -- which they 
can monitor -- than about what goes on behind closed doors. 
According to Smakman, radical views are more widespread than 
ever among local youth, many of whom consider Bouyeri a 
hero.  Many youth, however, will not express their feelings 
openly in public or in the presence of their parents, who 
largely reject such views.  However, Smakeman added, "We 
don't know what happens when the drapes are shut." 
 
12.(SBU) Smakman speaks from experience, having come into 
contact with Mohammed Bouyeri and other Hofstad group 
members through his efforts to reach out to community 
groups.  Bouyeri, for example, was temporarily on the 
editorial staff of a Dutch/Turkish/Arabic neighborhood 
newspaper co-sponsored by local police and a neighborhood 
organization to promote employment among local youth. 
According to Smakman, Bouyeri was known for his columns 
encouraging youth to empower themselves to achieve success 
in Dutch society.  Smakman noted that Bouyeri's 
transformation from integration proponent to extremist 
murderer was surprisingly sudden, but there were signs -- 
such as when Bouyeri refused to shake the hand of his long- 
time friend one day without explanation. 
 
13.(SBU) Another Hofstad suspect now awaiting trial, Yusef 
Etoumi, participated in 2000 in a three-week summer program 
for high-risk Dutch-Moroccan youth to perform service 
projects in Morocco.  The program, entitled "And Now 
Something Positive," was another initiative launched to 
improve inter-community relations following the 1998 riots 
and is sponsored by several Dutch companies.  Smakman, who 
took part in the trip as a chaperone, remembered Etoumi as a 
quiet kid, "not a criminal boy" who engaged in soft drug 
use. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
14.(SBU) Overtoomseveld lived up to its radical reputation 
two weeks ago when additional arrests of several alleged 
Hofstad Group members were made there.  Despite many 
community programs and active involvement by the police and 
residents over the last few years, young people, especially 
young men, in this neighborhood continue to feel excluded 
from society and trapped in segregated communities that 
provide no solid social identity.  Dutch authorities worry 
that such youth are vulnerable to the allure of an Islamic 
extremist message that promises to give them a sense of 
belonging and empowerment.  One year after the murder of van 
Gogh, however, the Dutch government still has no good plan 
for preventing the emergence of new Mohammed Bouyeris from 
the same mean streets.  END COMMENT. 
BLAKEMAN