Former Mayor of Eindhoven, Rob van Gijzel, expressed concerns about the Al Fourqaan mosque years ago already. These have not been heeded.
That is what he says in the Dutch national TV programme, De Lokgroep. This programme will be broadcast this week. There was a lot of commotion around the mosque because of radical preachers who were invited there. Van Gijzel sounded the alarm about this in a letter to the Cabinet.
He insisted on a thorough investigation of the Al Fourqaan mosque. He, however, received hardly any response. According to Van Gijzel, he would be better off not interfering. It could hamper trade interests with Saudi Arabia.
Lack of information
From the intelligence services’ attitude, Van Gijzel feels he received no support. He says that because of that attitude, he lacked information. He feels he could, therefore, not tackle problems of radicalisation.
In the programme, former Director of Counterterrorism in the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, reacts to Van Gijzel’s criticism. He indicates that he gave the former Mayor what information he could.
At the end of 2015, Van Gijzel banned the arrival of seven ‘radical’ preachers to the Al Fourqaan. The court later overturned that ban. According to the court, the measure was too much of an infringement on, for instance, religious freedom.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Bob
Editor: Melinda Walraven
