Purification and Resistance: Glocal Meanings of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Netherlands

What else can we do? You can wear a belt and take two people into death, if it doesn’t go wrong. (…) Eventually we are prepared to do anything, in a broad sense, anything. (…) Mohammad B. said it right: ‘the 2nd of November Allah sent his soldier’. - Nidal It is good, finally they feel it. (…) It is true that they are suppressing more Muslims now, but they know now that we offer resistance and that scares them. They can’t distinguish the terrorists from non-terrorists. (…) There is a hadith that says that if the end of the world is coming near, a war will take place between believers and unbelievers. The believers will win. - Yelda It is these kinds of statements and violent actions that have aroused fear of Islamic fundamentalism in the Netherlands since 9/11. Nidal’s and Yelda’s words express a conviction of the ultimate truth and a dualist vision of the world. From this conviction they derive a sense of superiority and that violence is legitimate against their enemies. Viewpoints like theirs have, moreover, promoted the clash of civilization thesis that presents (fundamentalist) Muslims as diametrically opposed to Dutch non-Muslims. But how ‘other’ are fundamentalist Muslims in the Netherlands? What are their beliefs and practices? How do their beliefs and practices develop over time? And what attracts Dutch Muslims to fundamentalism? These questions form the principal focus of this book. The introduction will, on the one hand, clarify the context in which these questions have emerged and, on the other hand, elaborate on the approach to find answers to them. First it will consider how Dutch society has come to see the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Thereafter it reflects on the limita

Hoe IS-glossy Dabiq harten van westerse moslims wint

IS propaganda is assumed to contribute to radicalization of Western Muslims. How IS propaganda reaches the hearts and minds of Western Muslims and consequently fuels radicalization is nonetheless an understudied topic. Through content analysis of all fifteen issues of IS-glossy Dabiq this article demonstrates how IS propaganda works in Dabiq. First, IS attunes in Dabiq to factors that foster radicalization according to the literature. IS does so by its discussion in Dabiq of injustice done to Muslims worldwide, the image of the Western enemy, and its positive presentation of the individual and group identity of IS fighters. Second, in Dabiq IS paves the way for embracing violent means, such as terrorist attacks on Western civilians through a discourse of ‘denial’

Vaccination against Human Influenza A/H3N2 Virus Prevents the Induction of Heterosubtypic Immunity against Lethal Infection with Avian Influenza A/H5N1 Virus

Annual vaccination against seasonal influenza viruses is recommended for certain individuals that have a high risk for complications resulting from infection with these viruses. Recently it was recommended in a number of countries including the USA to vaccinate all healthy children between 6 and 59 months of age as well. However, vaccination of immunologically naïve subjects against seasonal influenza may prevent the induction of heterosubtypic immunity against potentially pandemic strains of an alternative subtype, otherwise induced by infection with the seasonal strains. Here we show in a mouse model that the induction of protective heterosubtypic immunity by infection with a human A/H3N2 influenza virus is prevented by effective vaccination against the A/H3N2 strain. Consequently, vaccinated mice were no longer protected against a lethal infection with an avian A/H5N1 influenza virus. As a result H3N2-vaccinated mice continued to loose body weight after A/H5N1 infection, had 100-fold higher lung virus titers on day 7 post infection and more severe histopathological changes than mice that were not protected by vaccination against A/H3N2 influenza. The lack of protection correlated with reduced virus-specific CD8+ T cell responses after A/H5N1 virus challenge infection. These findings may have implications for the general recommendation to vaccinate all healthy children against seasonal influenza in the light of the current pandemic threat caused by highly pathogenic avian A/H5N1 influenza viruses

Wereldbeelden en weerbaarheid van Turks-Nederlandse jongeren. De twee gezichten van een sterke interne gerichtheid

Many of the common academic explanations for radicalization and extremism are present among Turkish-Dutch youngsters. Based on qualitative research among 150 youngsters with a Turkish background, the authors describe how these youngsters are catching up with their disadvantaged socioeconomic position in the areas of education and labor. These Muslim youngsters feel that they and Islam are increasingly met with distrust and exclusion in mainstream society. In the sociocultural domain of incorporation, Turkish-Dutch youngsters are very diverse, but within this diversity focussed on their own ethnic group. Although these characteristics as deprivation, exclusion and strong internal orientation are commonly used as risks for radicalization, these Turkish-Dutch youngsters seem not to be attracted to Islamic radicalism nor extremism. The authors explain this through the opportunities for political participation within their communities and the specific Turkish secular Islam that offers room for a more individualized religious interpretation. In addition the strong internal focus of the

Waarom Turks-Nederlandse jongeren niet radicaliseren

__Absttract__ De afgelopen jaren zijn in de media verschillende berichten over negatieve ontwikkelingen onder Turkse jongeren verschenen. Zo publiceerden Turks-Nederlandse professionals een manifest in De Volkskrant (10-01-2011) waarin zij onder meer constateerden dat Turkse jongeren - mede onder invloed van maatschappelijke achterstanden – zich niet thuis en niet geaccepteerd voelen in de Nederlandse samenleving, zich terugtrekken in de eigen groep, hun heil zoeken in religie en kwetsbaar zijn voor criminaliteit en radicalisering. Berichten als deze roepen vragen op naar de ontwikkelingen in de maatschappelijke positie van Turkse Nederlanders en hun kinderen en of en hoe deze ontwi

Annual Vaccination against Influenza Virus Hampers Development of Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Immunity in Children▿

Infection with seasonal influenza A viruses induces immunity to potentially pandemic influenza A viruses of other subtypes (heterosubtypic immunity). We recently demonstrated that vaccination against seasonal influenza prevented the induction of heterosubtypic immunity against influenza A/H5N1 virus induced by infection with seasonal influenza in animal models, which correlated with the absence of virus-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Annual vaccination of all healthy children against influenza has been recommended, but the impact of vaccination on the development of the virus-specific CD8+ T cell immunity in children is currently unknown. Here we compared the virus-specific CD8+ T cell immunity in children vaccinated annually with that in unvaccinated children. In the present study, we compared influenza A virus-specific cellular and humoral responses of unvaccinated healthy control children with those of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) who were vaccinated annually. Similar virus-specific CD4+ T cell and antibody responses were observed, while an age-dependent increase of the virus-specific CD8+ T cell response that was absent in vaccinated CF children was observed in unvaccinated healthy control children. Our results indicate that annual influenza vaccination is effective against seasonal influenza but hampers the development of virus-specific CD8+ T cell responses. The consequences of these findings are discussed in the light of the development of protective immunity to seasonal and future pandemic influenza viruses