Young Muslims in the Netherlands are increasingly influenced by “radical Islamic boosters” as they attend after-school classes in Arabic and Islam, the Dutch intelligence service has warned.
The lessons, which are “at first sight accessible and innocent,” risk becoming “a breeding ground” for jihadist converts, the Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD warned in its annual report for 2018. They are concerned that some new “eloquent preachers” have emerged who do not necessarily reject violent jihadist ideology.
Children and young people are alienated from society by this interpretation of education, and may be hindered from their participation in society. This is caused by the intolerant and anti-democratic views of the initiators.
Radical Islam in the Netherlands was on the rise last year, the new report suggests. Dutch intelligence lists 500 people as active members of a jihadist movement in the country with several thousand sympathizers.
