Islamic look?

And not just some woman . no, this was Aldith Hunkar, presenting a special issue of the NOS Journaal, which is considered to be a reliable news program.

An Islamic look? Having been born in Turkey I never realized that it shows itself so clearly. I understand that I have to watch more carefully myself as well, to recognize and value the Christian look. And to be able to distinguish the protestant look (like prime minister Balkenende) from the catholic look (for example Pim Fortuyn) and to be aware of the different versions of all these sub-groups like Nederlands Hervormden, Gereformeerden, Babtisten and Evangelisten. And let’s not forget the obvious non-religious or atheist look of most of the Dutch.

Two weeks later I saw and heard another woman say something remarkable on tv on the occasion of the arrest of a group of Kurds on a campsite in a village in the south of the Netherlands. This time it was an eyewitness on RTL Nieuws, announced as the artist Katja de Man, who saw ’thirty-something men with an Arabic appearance but dressed in western clothes sitting around a fireplace and playing table tennis’. An Arabic appearance, but dressed in western clothes? Myself I’m half Kurdish, and I can assure you that both Turks and Kurds do not identify themselves as ‘Arabic’. And indeed we don’t wear a jallabia. By the way, lot’s of Arabs don’t wear such a traditional outfit either and the concept of western clothes is rather confusing.

We all seem to have the need to categorize or generalize groups of people. By religion, by ethnic background, by nationality, by colour, by sexual preference, by political view. But apart from the risk of making big mistakes or creating misunderstandings, this information quite often is irrelevant and does not provide useful insight. That’s why I didn’t refer to Aldith Hunkar as ‘a dark woman with a Surinam accent and rasta hair’ and Katja de Man as a ’typical Dutch dumb blonde’.

“The murder on Theo van Gogh seems to have been committed by a person with an Islamic look.” This is what the woman really said on tv. Not once, but repeatedly for almost two hours. And not just some woman . no, this was Aldith Hunkar, presenting a special issue of the NOS Journaal, which is considered to be a reliable news program.

An Islamic look? Having been born in Turkey I never realized that it shows itself so clearly. I understand that I have to watch more carefully myself as well, to recognize and value the Christian look. And to be able to distinguish the protestant look (like prime minister Balkenende) from the catholic look (for example Pim Fortuyn) and to be aware of the different versions of all these sub-groups like Nederlands Hervormden, Gereformeerden, Babtisten and Evangelisten. And let’s not forget the obvious non-religious or atheist look of most of the Dutch.

Two weeks later I saw and heard another woman say something remarkable on tv on the occasion of the arrest of a group of Kurds on a campsite in a village in the south of the Netherlands. This time it was an eyewitness on RTL Nieuws, announced as the artist Katja de Man, who saw ’thirty-something men with an Arabic appearance but dressed in western clothes sitting around a fireplace and playing table tennis’. An Arabic appearance, but dressed in western clothes? Myself I’m half Kurdish, and I can assure you that both Turks and Kurds do not identify themselves as ‘Arabic’. And indeed we don’t wear a jallabia. By the way, lot’s of Arabs don’t wear such a traditional outfit either and the concept of western clothes is rather confusing.

We all seem to have the need to categorize or generalize groups of people. By religion, by ethnic background, by nationality, by colour, by sexual preference, by political view. But apart from the risk of making big mistakes or creating misunderstandings, this information quite often is irrelevant and does not provide useful insight. That’s why I didn’t refer to Aldith Hunkar as ‘a dark woman with a Surinam accent and rasta hair’ and Katja de Man as a ’typical Dutch dumb blonde’.