Stories of Sharia police in the UK emerged this spring. Now it is Holland’s turn -- the home of Geert Wilders. From Trouw -- The Hague: Neighborhood in The Hague dominated by orthodox Muslims:
Non-Muslim inhabitants, but also moderate Muslims, suffer from this. They say they are addressed on the street on matters that do not please the orthodox majority, such as smoking on the street and the use of alcohol and pork meat.
Trouw (the Dutch newspaper) has visited the area called “The Forgotten Triangle” regularly in the past two months. It is called that because it was “forgotten” during city renewal. The area consists mainly of old porch homes, where an estimated number of 5000 Schilderwijkers live. In the neighborhood are three mosques, which are known to be Salafist.
The tip of the Triangle is also called “The Sharia Triangle” or even “The Tip of the Sword,” as it turns out from talking to dozens of residents, old inhabitants, youngsters, volunteers and professionals of government services and society organizations. For years they have seen the development of a “small caliphate” and the introduction of a “mini-Sharia.”
Examples are known of policemen who came to the neighborhood after a notification, who were asked to leave because the inhabitants “would solve the problems themselves.” Luckily, according to people in the neighborhood, the police did not leave, but they fear for the day that this will happen.
Girls are addressed by veiled women who express their disapproval about “skirts above the knee” and “dresses with spaghetti straps.” When asked about this, a veiled Muslim woman replied, “Women in the core of the Bible Belt also wear long skirts, and in Staphorst on Sunday nobody works.” The majority decides. “That is what this so-called democracy The Netherlands is built upon, but oh boy if somewhere some strange group becomes the majority,” says the Muslima.
In the Triangle, crime has recently dropped as police have tackled youth gangs. But it’s said in the neighborhood that the “fear for the wrath of Allah” also plays a part. The influence of the strict believers would play an important role in security in the area, because even hardened street boys bow their heads for these “true believers.”
The municipality of The Hague was asked yesterday morning for a response, but could in the short term not give a “careful and substantive” response to this “complex issue.’”