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Title: Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerence
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Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
List Price: $15.00
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| Customer Reviews: |
| Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerence by Penguin (Non-Classics) Exceeds expectations | I had traveled to Amsterdam twice before picking up Buruma's book with only a faint understanding of who Theo Van Gogh was or why he was murdered, but this book weaves European history, demographics and an understanding of radical Islam into a cogent explanation of why the Dutch filmmaker was murdered. I was impressed by Buruma's explanation of the motives of T. Van Gogh's assassin, the Moroccan émigré Mohammed Bouyeri, primarily because pernicious rationalizations of poverty, isolation and disillusionment were avoided in favor of focusing on Bouyeri's Muslim faith. Radical Islam, and to a large extent the entire body of `moderate' Islam, is incapable of taking rational criticism even when protestations of, say, the treatment of women are made in good faith. This is no where more clearly exemplified than the hysteria that followed the Danish Mohammed cartoons, which stills lingers as of March 2008, and the anticipatory ire which the Dutch MP Geert Wilders has aroused in the Middle East, namely Iran, upon announcing the release of a film that will be critical of Islam. Take note that Wilder's film has yet to be released, as of early March 2008, although he has already received death threats, and is under 24/7 guard, as the murder of Theo Van Gogh proved was utterly necessary.
T. Van Gogh was an implacable iconoclast whose work with the Somali émigré Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the short film `Submission' highlighted the abominable treatment and objectification of women in Islam. In `Submission', a nude female actor is covered in misogynist verses from the Koran. In the liberal democracies of the west, this is freedom of speech, but to Islam, an egregious sin.
Europe is undergoing radical demographic changes today with ever increasing immigration from Muslim nations. I'd recommend Mark Steyn's `America Alone' to place Buruma's book with a larger context.
| | Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerence by Penguin (Non-Classics) A different look at an issue that affects our lives every day | | The day after Benazir Bhutto's assasination -- this book is perhaps even more relevant than ever. Theo Van Gogh was a provocateur -- and he paid for that stance with his life. This is a very well written book that makes us think and consider the continuing instability in today's world. There are no answers, only more questions. I highly recommend it. | | Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerence by Penguin (Non-Classics) Product Description | A revelatory look at what happens when political Islam collides with the secular West
Ian Buruma ’s Murder in Amsterdam is a masterpiece of investigative journalism, a book with the intimacy and narrative control of a crime novel and the analytical brilliance for which Buruma is renowned. On a cold November day in Amsterdam in 2004, the celebrated and controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and killed by an Islamic extremist for making a movie that “insulted the prophet Mohammed.” The murder sent shock waves across Europe and around the world. Shortly thereafter, Ian Buruma returned to his native land to investigate the event and its larger meaning as part of the great dilemma of our time. |
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