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| Europe |
| Radical PvdA Councillor Refusing to Resign |
| 2008-01-27 |
| Follow up to that story. ROTTERDAM - Labour (PvdA) politician Bouchra Ismaili is refusing to resign. She is ignoring requests from her party to step down because she lied about signing a petition of the radical Muslim organisation Hizb Ut Tahrir. Ismaili, a Muslim immigrant of Moroccan origin, is a PvdA member of Rotterdam's Charlois district council. Last week, she wrote in an e-mail to a citizen: "You filthy idiot. WE ARE HERE TO STAY hahahahahahhahah DROP DEAD". The email contained reams more similar remarks and urged the man to convert to Islam. Ismaili's email was a reply to an email in which the citizen, Jos Parbleu, had confronted the council member with statements by Okay Pala, a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir Nederland. Pala had said in newspaper De Telegraaf: 'We do not agree with freedom of expression, as we reject democracy' and 'what you need is a big bomb attack!' The PvdA leadership in Charlois did not consider it necessary to boot Ismaili out. But meanwhile, during a meeting of Charlois district council, it has become clear that Ismaili also signed a petition from Hizb Ut Tahrir and lied about it. The Hizb ut Tahrir petition stated: "It is time to rid ourselves of a culture that damages our Islam." Initially, Ismaili denied emphatically that she signed the petition. But when opposition party Liveable Rotterdam (LR) produced a printout of the Internet page with her signature, she had to admit it. Ismaili said after being unmasked by Liveable Rotterdam that she felt ashamed because she had "embarrassed the Muslim community in the Netherlands." Both Ismaili and her PvdA colleagues rushed out of the building after the meeting and declined to comment further. Yesterday, the PvdA decided after all that Ismaili should resign because she lied. But a spokesperson for Ismaili stated she was not prepared to leave the Charlois council. The PvdA cannot force her to resign. Hizb Ut Tahrir is banned in Germany due to its extremist and anti-Semitic character, but not in the Netherlands. The national PvdA did not want to comment. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #3 The Hizb ut Tahrir petition stated: "It is time to rid ourselves of a culture that damages our Islam." Initially, Ismaili denied emphatically that she signed the petition. But when opposition party Liveable Rotterdam (LR) produced a printout of the Internet page with her signature, she had to admit it. why would she be embarrassed about lying? Isn't that a point of pride for Muslims? |
| Posted by: Punky Omeagum5537 2008-01-27 10:25 |
| #2 The national PvdA did not want to comment One imagines they did not. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-01-27 09:12 |
| #1 Damn, thought this was about CITGO. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2008-01-27 08:53 |