Dutch Muslim website

Rogier van Bakel writes about a website for young Muslims living in the Netherlands:

Www.elqalem.nl is a website by and for young Dutch muslims. It bills itself as a "completely neutral information platform." The editors say the site should be considered a "part of the neutral, informative news media."

There is no shortage of articles on El-Qalem that put that assertion to the test, however. On the home page, visitors find an account of Immigration Secretary Rita Verdonk's meeting with a number of Dutch imams in late November. The get-together was remarkable for the fact that one of the imams refused to shake Verdonk's hand (see below); and also because most of them couldn't speak Dutch despite having lived in the Netherlands for many years. Thankfully, Verdonk had brought an interpreter. Here's how El-Qalem's editorial staff says the meeting went (I translated this from the Dutch):

>> With hand outstretched, she approached one of our imams, who correctly said she should keep her fat sausage fingers to herself. ... But Verdonk had no reason to cry, because behind her, a reasonable allochtonous person was ready to offer her an embrace. This persona non grata should have heeded the Prophet Mohammed's words: "It is better to stab an iron pin through the head than to touch a woman who is neither your wife nor a close relative." If there's one woman who we're sure is no relative of ours, it's Rita Verdonk. If there's one woman we most certainly never want as part of our family, it's Rita Verdonk. Little Rita is a 'woman' who lacks tact, considering her coarse and boorish manner during the meeting. We remember the denigrating, wagging finger she waved at our respected imams. "Next time I see you, we'll all speak Dutch," admonished our secretary-cum-headmistress. Only an atheist is capable of such arrogance. <<

How's that for "neutral"?