Labour (PvdA) leader Wouter Bos is urging “a civilized form of nationalism.” This should however include pride by the Dutch of having a Muslim as the mayor of Rotterdam, he said at a party meeting in Utrecht.
Bos spoke at the party meeting about the Integration Memorandum the PvdA wants to present to its members in March. A draft version was drawn up in December in which the traditional party line - immigrants enrich the Dutch society - appeared to have been replaced by a message in which there is also room for criticism.
This week, however, it appeared that the party is already going back to its political correctness. A paragraph will be inserted in which the positive aspects of multiculturalism will be explicitly discussed.
Insiders say that a line in which more effort is demanded from immigrants and they are less ‘pampered’ would be heartily embraced by Bos. But at the party meeting in Utrecht, he had a remarkable message by saying that, on the one hand, pride and nationalism should no longer be taboo, while simultaneously linking these terms with Islamisation.
Bos considers that “the term ‘proud’ does not exclusively belong to the right.” A civilized form of nationalism is necessary to give people confidence in the changed society and to allow citizens to enter into it, said the party leader, who is also finance minister.
Bos added however that the Dutch should be proud of the recent appointment of Ahmed Aboutaleb as mayor of Rotterdam. Aboutaleb is Muslim and has Moroccan nationality.
As another example of a source of national pride, Bos named the notion “that Islam belongs and will always belong to the Netherlands.” He added that “dual passports belong and will always belong to the Netherlands” as well, thereby indicated that Turks and Moroccans and their children may remain citizens of two states for decades to come.
Bos, who earlier made a plea for “polarisation,” acknowledged that integration still leads to heated debates within his party. He himself now also appears to have returned to the traditionalists dominating the party.