Ladies and gentlemen,
HISTORY AND IDENTITY
Amsterdam is known as a tolerant city, a city of freedom. This is a
reputation we’re keen to maintain. In centuries gone by, we offered
a refuge to Huguenots, and to Portuguese Jews. Spinoza, the great
thinker of the Enlightenment, was an Amsterdammer. There’s a
prominent statue of him in front of City Hall.
But there have also been dark pages in our city’s history.
Amsterdammers played an important role in the slave trade and
profited from the plantations that relied on slave labour. During the
Second World War, 75 percent of the people in our Jewish
community were murdered in the Holocaust – that’s a much higher
percentage than in other European countries. To this day, it leaves
a scar on our city. Life as it once was. All those children in their
classrooms… first they were made to go to separate schools, and
then – as people in the Netherlands put it in a roundabout way –
they never came back.
In the second half of the last century, our city grew. We welcomed
many migrant workers who came to live in Amsterdam with their
families, and whose cultures contributed even more diversity to the
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city. In the 1960s migrants came from Suriname and the Caribbean,
and then people from Turkey and Morocco, many of them Muslim.
This history and these demographic changes are our city’s DNA.
Our heritage, and our identity. And I mention it because this identity
is crucial to the matters we’re going to discuss today. You can’t
understand Amsterdam without understanding this history. And that
also means that when we discuss contemporary issues in the city,
our terminology, our sensitivities and our pride are formed by this
DNA.
I’ll give you some examples of how we see this reflected in the
theme of today’s meeting.
EDUCATION
We are strengthening education on citizenship and on our shared
history, in primary, secondary and further education. For example:
The history of Amsterdam offers tools to understand the meaning of
freedom of expression and freedom of association, and why they
are so important. An understanding of history provides young
people with the tools for a constructive discussion of the current
affairs that play an important role in their lives.
Topics like Charlie Hebdo, IS, or Gaza, for example. The flow of
information on these issues via social media is constant.
Uncensored, with opinions of every variety. How do you deal with
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this? What tools should we give our young people to make them
resistant to conspiracy theories? How do we create a safe
environment for young people to ask questions, and put prejudice to
the test?
We support teachers in the classrooms of Amsterdam in their
difficult but vital task of broaching challenging subjects.
We organise meetings between young people from different parts of
the city.
We introduce young people to the Anne Frank House, for example,
or their local synagogue. We teach them how to deal with media
and how to hold a discussion.
School students adopt monuments, which are so numerous in our
city.
And, in a project close to my heart, pupils interview elderly people
about what life was like in their own neighbourhood during the war.
Elderly people who at the time were the same age as these children
are today. They went to the same schools, played in the same
playgrounds. Not only do the children learn how the city has been
scarred, as I mentioned earlier. But the concrete connection with
their own school and street brings history to life. And the stories are
collected, passed on and preserved.
DIALOGUE
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In a so-called action plan, we facilitate dialogue among Amsterdam
residents. One important example of this is the discussion between
Jews and Muslims in Amsterdam. These two communities are often
placed in opposition to one another. Both are under pressure. In
private discussions facilitated by the City of Amsterdam, we discuss
the tensions in the Middle East that occupy people’s minds in
Amsterdam. We discuss discrimination, we discuss threat. What
these talks very clearly reveal is that the shared identity lies in the
identity of being an Amsterdammer. And also to some extent in
being a minority. And the shared values lie in our democratic
values.
But the discussions can also cause friction. The heavy security for
Jewish schools and synagogues show that the debate is not free of
obligation. The disproportionate level of unemployment among
Moroccan and Turkish Amsterdammers produces a sense of
exclusion that pushes other matters off the agenda.
When the City of Amsterdam visited Tel Aviv and Ramallah to
explore possibilities for economic cooperation, this became a
source of heated debate in the city and put the discussions I’ve just
been describing under pressure. But we are building on a coalition,
on friendships that will strengthen our city from the inside.
COMBATING DISCRIMINATION
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Apart from education and dialogue, in dealing with discrimination
against Muslims and with antisemitism, the city has a number of key
approaches:
There are important general instruments to combat discrimination.
We have an antidiscrimination service which registers complaints,
and provides advice to residents, businesses and institutions. We
strive to register the precise nature of the discrimination in question,
such as antisemitism or discrimination against Muslims. We ask our
partners, for example the police, to do the same. In my opinion,
specifically identifying the nature of discrimination is the best way to
track it down and combat it, and it also does the most justice to the
victims.
INCLUSIVE LABOUR MARKET
We are also working on an inclusive labour market. I already
mentioned the disproportionate level of unemployment among
young people in Amsterdam who have a Turkish or Moroccan
background. Because it’s unacceptable for people to be left on the
side-lines. Because it’s a missed opportunity not to make use of
talent. In very concrete terms. We help businesses, and we raise
the issue with employers. Where do you recruit new employees?
Who are your interns? How do you see your human resources
policy and what’s your network like?
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We help young people to develop a network and find internship
placements. Many of them are underestimated at school, and the
final level of education they achieve is beneath their capacity. Their
talent goes unrecognised because there is a focus on language, or
because they have trouble acquiring the right study skills. Many of
them are the first people in their families to go on to further or
higher education. This calls for careful guidance.
COMBATING RADICALISATION
Another important area of attention in our city is anti-radicalisation.
Young people who for a wide range of reasons are attracted to
extremist and violent interpretations of Islam. They don’t fit a single
character profile and there is no single solution.
Our fight against radicalisation focuses on the individual. We decide
what action is needed on an individual basis. Care services, police
and schools work together. We also have an anti-radicalisation
service, which teachers, sports clubs or religious organisations can
consult for advice. The service provides guidance and support to
people who report cases of radicalisation, and presents possibilities
of how deal with a person who is radicalising. We also do this for
parents, families and friends.
An example of de-radicalisation appears from an email received by
our mayor. The sender describes how at the age of 20 he was
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seriously ill in hospital. He heard two doctors talking. He realised
that these doctors, who in his eyes were infidels, were doing
everything they could to save his life, regardless of his religion or
background. It opened his eyes. He had been taught to hate people
with different beliefs. But this experience brought him in conflict with
this idea. He now wants to help by telling his life story. It’s very
concrete, which makes it meaningful.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve given you some examples of
Amsterdam projects, and an Amsterdam perspective on the issues.
I hope I’ve offered some inspiration. And I’d like to thank the
organisers of this day.
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