2008-09-01 A wake up call

A fascinating critique of Dutch society - one which many of us have long-regarded as 'perfect'. Buruma strips bare what he portrays as a smug middle-class and affluent nation which has never really openly dealt with its problems. Be they decolonisation, immigration, sex, drugs and surprisingly religion. What's clear though is that of all immigrant groups, Moroccans - NOT Muslims - are the least welcome and the least integrated. Buruma lays the charge that it's not Islam that prevents their integration, but a mixture of Dutch arrogance and Moroccan village culture. The book has its faults, notably the author - himself Dutch - is quite smug and he often doesn't analyse, rather he relates. Still, this doesn't take away from an excellent account of the phenomena of political assassinations in the Netherlands.