A report on Salafism in the Netherlands....

The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service has just issued a report on the radicalisation of the muslims in the Netherlands. They claim rising salafism (the Saudi sort of islam)..but without violence..but get this...

So now a third phase has begun: the Service signals, in a report of some 94 pages, the emergence of professionally-organized Dawa (preaching), which it defines as the missionary spreading of a radical-Islamic ideology from a Salafist angle, which explicitly does not champion violence. The rise of the Dawa is illustrated by, amongst other things, the fact that the number of Salafist readings has doubled in the past two years. Apart from that, the AIVD warns that the three described phases are not sharply defined - preachers from abroad and 'self-igniters' can still appear.

The AIVD has also adopted a new term for the most recent developments: "Islamic neoradicalism". According to the Service, there are now Dawa preachers active who are not, or only slightly, dependent on support from abroad; they operate using a "smart marketing strategy" which consciously avoids straying too close to the margins of Dutch law. The Internet is no longer a primary communications channel: it's now mosques and meeting halls, where priests are not interrupted by all the 'noise' of critical voices such as those in Internet forums and chat rooms.

The goal of the 'neoradicals', according to the AIVD, is "setting up their own, Islamised enclaves in society where there's no place for dissidents or those with different beliefs." And although no violence is preached, the AIVD sees a serious threat to the Dutch constitution and democracy, such as strong pressure from the Salafist radicals on fellow-believers; the rejection of the Dutch legal order; tensions within the Muslim community or tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims. Above all, says the AIVD, it's still too early to be sure that the 'neoradical' movement will not combine the Dawa with violent jihad.