LONG RENOWNED AS THE LAND OF TOLERANCE, the Netherlands seems to have had a change of heart in recent months. Newscasts from the area have shown mosques and churches torched following the murder of Theo van Gogh. This vociferous provocateur—notorious for both anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic remarks—was killed by an Islamic extremist after making Submission: Part I (2004), a film about the oppression of Muslim women, with the feminist politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
For many, the fact that this multicultural collaboration resulted in a deadly clash has served only to substantiate the anti-immigration platform of slain politician Pim Fortuyn. With his critique of Islam, Fortuyn succeeded in shifting the political focus from economics to order: Whoever lives in Holland, Muslim or other, should follow Dutch cultural values. But what is Dutch culture? And how does one fix on distinct values
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