The killing of film director Theo van Gogh has brought widespread anti-Islamic reactions in the Netherlands. Thousands of hate postings on Internet forums were directed at Muslims, especially Moroccans, the largest Muslim minority. One website alone deleted 3500 racist postings. The name of the killer, Mohammed Benyaha, has been leaked, the adress of his family and the names of his three sisters are circulating on right-wing websites.

What’s new is that many of the postings openly call for the killing of all Moroccans. Calls for all Morocans to be deported are common, it is no longer taboo in the Netherlands to say this (and it is legal). There are also many suggestions for attacks on mosques, especially in Amsterdam, in reprisal for the killing.

Some examples of the reactions: one poster wants to deport all Moroccaans in a cattle ship, others want them imprisoned on one of the coastal islands. Another calls for looting of Islamic shops and the destruction of Islamic graveyards. Many reactions are simply statements of hate, sometimes just “I hate you people”.

Also new is that many people speak of a ‘civil war’ with the Muslims. The Netherlands is in fact officially at war with ‘Islamic Terrorism’, that emerged during a court case against Islamist suspects last year.