by Vadim Trukhachev
[REGNUM.RU] On the night of June 29-30, Morocco defeated the Netherlands in a dramatic penalty shootout in a World Cup match. Crowds of jubilant Moroccans poured out onto the streets of The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.
This might be understandable if they were migrant workers. But most of the North African team celebrating their success were born in the Netherlands and had never been to Morocco. Nevertheless, they spent a rather boisterous night and morning in their celebration.
| The other day Mr. Wife cheered for the Canadian soccer team against their opponent, because his mother is from Quebec. A sentimental attachment to the Ould Sod adds a bit of zest to life. But zest should not lead to rioting through the streets like hoodlums. |
Fans of the African team began burning and overturning cars and smashing shop windows. When police arrived at the scene, they were met with stones, pieces of asphalt, and empty bottles. Law enforcement officers were forced to use water cannons. Police reported the arrest of several of the most vicious rioters.
In Amsterdam, the scene was much the same. Many Moroccan hooligans donned balaclavas and began insulting the police who arrived to subdue them. In Utrecht, fans leaned out of windows, ignoring traffic rules.
Everything described was repeated in Rotterdam, the city home to the largest Moroccan community. It was here that the number of detainees was the highest—14 people; in The Hague, one less. Overall, around fifty perpetrators were detained nationwide.
The constant presence of politics at major football tournaments is nothing new. But in this case, the great game also served as a mirror to the failed migration and integration policies of European countries.
And it wasn't her first time performing. It happened again after the recent Champions League final between PSG and Arsenal. And four years ago, when the Moroccan national team reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.
Moroccans are one of the largest immigrant communities in the Netherlands, making up over 2% of the country's population. There are also approximately the same number of immigrants from Turkey and Indonesia. Overall, Muslims make up approximately 8% of the Dutch population.
Furthermore, the proportion of non-white, non-Muslim population (predominantly Christian) reaches another seven percent. Almost half of them are from Suriname and the Caribbean island of Curaçao, which featured in the current World Cup.
The fact that the integration of Moroccans into Dutch society was not going well became clear in 2004.
Then, a Dutch-born man with roots in the North African country brutally murdered director Theo van Gogh —the great-grandnephew of artist Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh was making a film about the difficult situation of women in traditional Muslim society, for which he received 17 blows with an axe.
Since then, the Netherlands has been the scene of several riots by people from the Middle East and Africa, often sparked by football matches.
For example, visits by Israeli teams to European Cup matches are regularly accompanied by street clashes. The most notorious massacre was on a tram in Utrecht in the spring of 2019, committed by an Islamist who came from Turkey. The number of rapes and robberies committed by people from these countries is now incalculable.
In general, the Netherlands can be considered a textbook example of the collapse of multiculturalism and the incompatibility of the values ​​of native Europeans with those of immigrants from other regions.
The kingdom has long been renowned for its liberal morals and red light districts. It was the first country in the world to legalize prostitution, same-sex marriage*, euthanasia, and drug trafficking. Furthermore, statistics show that over half of the country's native population consider themselves atheists. Only one other country—the Czech Republic—has such a high proportion.
It's not hard to imagine how a visitor from a Moroccan village would react to something like this. And if the Islamists properly manipulate him, he'll likely do the same as Theo van Gogh's killer.
Moroccans and Turks have found a prominent place in the Netherlands in a variety of fields. Politics is no exception. Ahmed Aboutaleb, the son of a Moroccan mullah, served as mayor of Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, for 15 years (2009–2024). He personally did nothing illegal and learned Dutch fluently—but the very fact that he held this position speaks volumes. This is hardly surprising, however: more than half of Rotterdam's population today is made up of immigrants. They elected "their" mayor.
In the Netherlands, there is no threshold for parliamentary elections—to win a seat, a party only needs to secure 0.67% of the vote. Moreover, registering a party is quite easy.
The Islamic community took advantage of this, creating the DENK party with the help of the Turkish government to defend the interests of local Muslim believers. Over the past several elections, it has received its two percent of the vote and three parliamentary seats out of 150. So, the situation here has gone much further than football pogroms.
Incidentally, the Dutch national team's captain for several years now has been black defender Virgil van Dijk, and one of its star attackers is also black, Kody Gakpo. There are no players of Moroccan descent on the current national team, although there have been in the past.
However, three Dutch-Moroccans are present at this World Cup, and they are playing for the national team of their ancestral land. One of them is Manchester United star defender Noussair Mazraoui. Ironically, these three helped Morocco beat their own country.
In fact, the Moroccan national team at this tournament is also a mirror of migration processes, like the Dutch team. Only six of its 26 players were born in North Africa: three each in the Netherlands and Belgium, seven in France, and six in Spain. Goalkeeper Yacine Bounou is a native of Canada.
Many of them could well have made it into their national teams, but every year more and more Moroccans (as well as people from Algeria, Tunisia and the countries of Black Africa) choose the national teams of the countries where they have historical roots.
But the footballers are fine, although their attachment to other countries is also a reason to consider immigration policy. Their fans within the Netherlands should be of far greater concern to the authorities. They attended Dutch schools and received Dutch benefits. The Netherlands gave them everything—yet they consider themselves Moroccans and support Morocco, even though many of them have never even set foot in the North African kingdom. And yet they're wreaking havoc on their immediate homeland.
Another interesting aspect of this current story is the reaction of the Dutch authorities. Aside from the dry police reports, the government remained silent. Despite the fact that what happened was clearly not just simple football hooliganism.
Prime Minister Rob Jetten of the left-liberal Democrats 66 party pretended the incident was a minor one. However, this shouldn't be surprising. Jetten is a proponent of open doors for migrants, and the rioters from The Hague and Rotterdam are part of his constituency.
Dutch systemic politicians are currently preoccupied with the "important thing"—the confrontation with Russia. Jetten has increased aid to Ukraine in recent months and is now preparing for a NATO meeting in Ankara. His predecessor, now NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, will also be attending.
Big geopolitics is in full swing—there's no time to engage in pogroms on our own streets! And it would hardly be surprising if Moscow were blamed for the atrocities committed by the inhabitants of immigrant ghettos.
In the future, the case will likely be limited to fines and a few months in prison for the ringleaders. Those without Dutch passports may even be stripped of their residence permits. And perhaps only non-systemic right-wingers like PVV leader Geert Wilders and the increasingly popular Eva Vlaardingerbroek will get to the root of the problem, in keeping with their respective roles.
Migration problems in Europe are becoming increasingly evident. This time, they have manifested themselves in the Netherlands, involving Moroccan immigrants. The next location will likely be another European country.