Posted on January 24, 2005

Most Dutch See Muslims as Threat — Poll

Reuters, Jan. 22

AMSTERDAM — A large majority of Dutch people are afraid of Muslims, according to a poll taken after the murder of a Dutch filmmaker critical of Islam.

The poll, conducted by TNS NIPO in The Netherlands, as well as in Spain and Italy, since the November murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a suspected radical Islamist, showed only 19 percent of Dutch people do not see the presence of Muslims in the country as a threat.

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Those who see Muslims as a threat say they are afraid they will eventually have to live under Islamic religious rules. Those living outside big cities, women and the well educated were more likely to have negative views, the newspaper said.

Half the Dutch polled said they would move house if their neighborhood became more dominated by immigrants and the same proportion said they were afraid women would no longer be able to move about freely in public because of Muslims.

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