THEO VAN GOGH
Theo van Goth was born on 07/23/1957 in Holland. He was a known film director, television producer, publicist and actor in Holland. Theo van Goth was a descendant of another Theo van Goth – the brother of Vincent van Goth.
After The 9/11, in 2003, Theo van Goth wrote his last book “Allah weet het beter” (“Allah Knows Best”) in which he presented his critical views on Islam and supported the USA invasion to Iraq in 03/2003.
Theo van Goth was a firm supporter of the Somali-born female feminist Politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was elected to the lower house of the Dutch parliament on 01/30/2003.
In early 2004 Theo van Goth released a 10 minutes movie, based on a script written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, named “Submission”, the English translation to the word “Islam” in Arabic. The movie dealt with violence against women in Islamic societies, especially the traditional female circumcision which is very common in North East Africa: Somalia, Sudan and Egypt.
Both Theo van Goth and Ayaan Hirsi Ali received numerous life threats after the movie was distributed in Holland and abroad.
On the morning of 11/02/2004, while cycling to work in Amsterdam, Theo van Goth was ambushed by Mohammed Bouyeri, the ringleader of Hofstad Group. Theo van Goth was shot 8 times and died on the spot. Mohammed Bouyeri then cut his throat, stabbed him in the chest with two knives, with one of which he attached a five-page note to the body. The Dutch police found on the note the fingerprint of another member in the Hofstad Group – Bislan Ismailov.
The note contained threats on Western governments, Jews, Ayaan Hirsi Ali specifically and references to the ideologies Takfir wal-Hijra*.
The event shocked the Dutch public, inflamed the debate about emigration policy in Holland, the status of freedom of speech, the way to protect it and the tolerance toward abusive language.
A wave of ethnical tension spread all over Holland, starting with four attempted arson attacks on Mosques. In what seems to be retaliatory violent incidents some arson attacks took place against churches in Holland. The Dutch Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia recorded a total of 106 violent incidents related to Theo van Goth assassination. On 05/16/2006 Ayaan Hirsi Ali was, practically, forced to resign her post in the Dutch parliament and is living today (09/2007) in New York, USA.
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