EU Watch

Amsterdam Mayor: We Will Close Mosques as a Last Resort

Femke Halsema, Amsterdam’s new mayor, has told local broadcaster AT5 that she will close mosques if their imams spread messages of hate but ‘only as a last resort’. Halsema, who outlined her strategy to deal with...

by Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensenrechten
Image: Federico Builes, Flickr.com

Femke Halsema, Amsterdam’s new mayor, has told local broadcaster AT5 that she will close mosques if their imams spread messages of hate but ‘only as a last resort’. Halsema, who outlined her strategy to deal with radicalisation in a briefing to councillors shortly after taking office, said that closing mosques is ‘a very rigorous [action] and is something you only do as a last resort.’ You must be able to act if ‘an imam gives disgusting sermons, such as saying women should be subservient or that homosexuality is a crime,’ the mayor said.

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