Monday, February 26, 2007

The Dutch Finally Show a Bit of Backbone -- Maybe

We read:

"The Amsterdam authorities have announced that a large cross, which was removed from in front of a supermosque that is currently being built in a western suburb of the city, will be put back in its original place once the construction works are over in a few years' time.

Last week we reported on the decision of the Amsterdam borough of De Baarsjes to permanently remove the white cross which served as a memorial to the Second World War. The cross, with the inscription "Aan hen die vielen" (To those who fell), was situated in front of a place where a huge mosque - the Westermoskee - is currently being built. The cross was removed for the building works, but the authorities decided they would not put it back afterwards and would replace it by a "neutral" memorial, at the price of 50,000 euro.

According to the authorities the cross was offensive to the Muslim and Jewish communities, who had objected to the cross as a war memorial. "The cross is seen as a reference to Christianity. I can understand this," the local (Christian-Democrat) councillor, Jan Voetberg, said.

However, news of the decision led to an outcry, which prompted the local council to renege on its decision.

Source

I am guessing that replacement of the cross will be "forgotten" when the time comes.