The video below from the Dutch blog GeenStijl features interviews with the leaders of various political parties. The GeenStijl reporter is asking their opinions about a book called Hidaya’s Hijab that has recently been made available in public libraries. The book explains to Muslim girls between the ages of three and seven that the wearing of the hijab is mandatory for them. The main point of contention is that the book was subsidized by the state.
Here are some of the leaders interviewed, with a little bit of background on themselves and their parties:
| Jimmy Dijk | Socialist Party — (Socialistische Partij, SP) Left-wing populists, former Maoists, to the left of communists | |
| Stephan van Baarle | Denk — Turkish party (his father was Turkish) | |
| Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius | People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy — (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) Center-right (she was born in Turkey, a child of Turkish socialists, political refugees who escaped to The Netherlands) | |
| Jan Paternotte | Democrats 66 — (Politieke Partij Democraten 66, D66) Centrist social liberals | |
| Henri Bontenbal | Christian Democratic Appeal — (Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) Christian democrats, center-right | |
| Chris Stoffer | Reformed Political Party — (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) Christian right, advocates for a Christian theocracy |
See the table at the bottom of this post for a more complete list of Dutch political parties.
Many thanks to Henk for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:04 | Today we’re going to talk a little bit about the book Hidaya’s Hijab, | |
| 00:07 | which is in our public library. | |
| 00:10 | In which there are passages that made us frown. | |
| 00:13 | But, hey, first this. Of course we have to be careful. | |
| 00:17 | I think you also have to be careful about banning books. | |
| 00:20 | But let’s not ban books. I don’t like banning books. Do I agree with this text in the book? | |
| 00:25 | No, I think it’s a bit rigid. I just said that. But should you ban a book because of that? | |
| 00:28 | No, absolutely not. Before you can discuss this effectively in the comments, | |
| 00:33 | you really want to know what’s in that book. And that’s why | |
| 00:36 | I’m going to read a little bit. Hidaya’s Hijab, I have to say, | |
| 00:40 | is specifically written to make the young Muslima, from 3 to 7 years old, aware of the obligation | |
| 00:44 | of the hijab. Well, not my thing. | |
| 00:49 | I think you rightly mention the word obligation. I think that’s what it’s about. | |
| 00:52 | This is in several Dutch public libraries, | |
| 00:55 | among others subsidized by the government. | |
| 00:58 | Yes, well, I wouldn’t borrow the book | |
| 01:01 | that quickly. It’s part of the Dutch, as I said… | |
| 01:04 | It’s part of the Dutch, the obligation of the hijab. | |
| 01:07 | It’s about children from the age of 3. It’s part of the Dutch that we offer freedom | |
| 01:10 | to any religious community in the Netherlands. | |
| 01:13 | I just hope that children learn here | |
| 01:17 | what’s beautiful about freedom. Freedom to be yourself. | |
| 01:20 | Freedom to give to others. Then they shouldn’t have this book. | |
| 01:23 | Again, I would go for the Donald Duck. I also think it’s very bad that you | |
| 01:26 | teach children that it’s an obligation. So no, I’d rather not see that. | |
| 01:30 | Only, I’m a bit hesitant to decide in a conversation with you what kind of books | |
| 01:33 | we’re going to distribute in libraries in Zutphen. Is that up to me or is it the content | |
| 01:37 | of the book? But I don’t like the content of the book at all. The secondary question would be… | |
| 01:41 | There are probably a lot of books with all kinds of educational advice. | |
| 01:45 | They are also not neutral. So in that sense, there is little that | |
| 01:48 | is truly neutral. Everyone works from certain life convictions. | |
| 01:52 | And there are also a lot of people who raise their children with Christian beliefs. | |
| 01:56 | Like I do, for example. Are we going to defend those books from those libraries? | |
| 01:59 | You say we as a government have to pay for that. | |
| 02:02 | Because those libraries have heavily subsidized books. | |
| 02:05 | That’s to stimulate people to read. That’s also for children from 3 to 7 years old. | |
| 02:09 | And you say the obligation of the hijab. | |
| 02:12 | The government pays well for that. I have no problem with that at all. | |
| 02:15 | I think all books belong in all libraries. This too. | |
| 02:18 | Well, I disagree. You can see that from my comment just now. | |
| 02:21 | Yes, it is very good that people can | |
| 02:24 | rent and borrow books at a library. I am a big supporter of that. | |
| 02:29 | Does that mean that a public library can only have very neutral books? | |
| 02:34 | Concerning neutral — what is that? Because I don’t actually believe in that neutrality. | |
| 02:38 | There is no neutral upbringing. You always give your child baggage. | |
| 02:41 | Yes, but if you say at some point that no Christian book is allowed anymore, | |
| 02:44 | from a different angle, then of course it all becomes very difficult. So I would say | |
| 02:47 | the public is then… There is a broad spectrum to that. | |
| 02:50 | But I would just go to the Christian library. Let’s do that. | |
| 02:53 | Since 2003, biased, unfunded and harmless. | |
| 02:58 | That must remain so. Support GeenStijl and become a member of GeenStijl Premium. | |
| 03:01 | Via premium.geenstijl.nl Thank you. | |
Key to Dutch parties:
| FvD | Forum for Democracy | |
| Forum voor Democratie | ||
| Conservative, populist, Euroskeptic |
||
| VVD | People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy | |
| Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie | ||
| Center-right |
||
| PvdA | Labour Party (now allied with GreenLeft) | |
| Partij van de Arbeid | ||
| Social democrats |
||
| PVV | Party for Freedom | |
| Partij voor de Vrijheid | ||
| Classical liberal, Islam-critical |
||
| BBB | Farmer-Citizen Movement | |
| BoerBurgerBeweging | ||
| Agrarian populists |
||
| SP | Socialist Party | |
| Socialistische Partij | ||
| Left-wing populists, former Maoists, to the left of communists |
||
| CDA | Christian Democratic Appeal | |
| Christen-Democratisch Appèl | ||
| Christian democrats, center-right |
||
| D66 | Democrats 66 | |
| Politieke Partij Democraten 66 | ||
| Centrist social liberals |
||
| CU | ChristianUnion | |
| ChristenUnie | ||
| Christian Democrats, left-wing, only “conservative” in being ostensibly religious |
||
| GL | GreenLeft (now allied with PvdA) | |
| GroenLinks | ||
| Environmentalism plus hard left |
||
| SGP | Reformed Political Party | |
| Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij | ||
| Christian right, advocates a Christian theocracy |
||
| PvdD | Party for Animals | |
| Partij voor de Dieren | ||
| Animal rights |
||
| Denk | Denk | |
| Denk | ||
| Turkish |
||
| 50+ | 50PLUS | |
| 50PLUS | ||
| Pensioners’ party |
||
| VNL | VoorNederland | |
| For The Netherlands | ||
| Classical liberal party |
||
| PPNL | Pirate Party of the Netherlands | |
| Piratenpartij Nederland | ||
| Anti-copyright, transparent governance |
||
| JA21 | Right Answer 21 | |
| Juiste Antwoord 21 | ||
| Right-of-center |