Rotterdam has banned the construction of new mosques, possibly the first European city to do this openly and officially. Since the victory of the Fortuyn party in the local elections in 2002, the city has taken an increasingly hard line against immigrants.

Many cities in Europe are not happy with mosques, but this ban is unusual because it is very explicit. The council finds that mosques don’t belong in a Dutch city, that they are an inappropriate urban element. The ban was triggered by the completion of the Essalam mosque, one of the biggest in Europe, which had been approved by the previous council. So, no new mosques, Muslims must use existing buildings, and they must also include facilities for non-Muslims in each mosque - to prevent an exclusive Muslim area.

A poll today shows that only 14% of the Dutch population is positive towards Muslims and/or immigrants. (The poll showed that Dutch people use the words immigrant and Muslim interchangeably). Half the population would move house, if many immigrants lived in their neighbourhood. In Belgium the anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok had its best ever score in the recent elections, it is supported by the Jewish community because of its relentless hostility to Muslim immigrants. The climate may have contributed to an attack on students of a Talmud school yesterday in Antwerp: one student was stabbed but is no longer in critical condition.