Netherlands: Random Stabbing Attack in Amsterdam

5 injured including 2 Americans. Attacker arrested

Hat tip Gates of Vienna

-NOS (nl)

This afternoon in Amsterdam, a man went on a random stabbing rampage near Dam Square. Five people, including two Americans were stabbed. They are all in the hospital being treated, and two are described in serious condition. The as yet unidentified attacker fled on foot but was chased down by witnesses who held him for police. He was also taken to the hospital with a leg injury.

Police say the motive is unclear, but they are not ruling out terrorism. They have also, at this point, not ruled out the possibility of additional suspects.

This story is still developing, and we will update it with additional details as they become available.

Below are excerpts from various Dutch news sources, RTL, NOS, Het Parool, and AT5. The excerpts are translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.rtl.nl/nieuws/binnenland/artikel/5501407/steekpartij-dichtbij-de-dam-met-meerdere-gewonden

Suspect also injured

5 injured in stabbing in center of Amsterdam, suspect arrested.

From RTL news 3 hours ago

On St Nicolaas Street, close to Dam Square in Amsterdam around 15:20, a stabbing occurred. 5 people were injured, two of them seriously. There is one suspect arrested. He is also injured, according to the police report.

Earlier, the police said that four people were injured, plus the suspect, who was the fifth person injured. A spokesman has corrected the information. So, there are six injured, including the suspect. All of the injured are reportedly in the hospital.

As to the identity of the suspects and the victims, the police have not yet given any information. As to the cause or motive of the stabbing incidents, the police have not yet shared information either. "That is part of the investigation," said the spokesman. It is also unclear if he acted alone.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2561307-vijf-gewonden-bij-steekpartij-centrum-amsterdam-verdachte-opgepakt

The witness says it was a "white man with spiked hair, around 30 years of age in blue jeans and a white t-shirt," City Broadcaster AT5 reporters that an older man was also injured 

https://www.parool.nl/nederland/live-identiteit-van-vijf-slachtoffers-van-steekpartij-amsterdam-centrum-bekend-mogelijk-willekeurig~b47abc9a/

18:51

Van Weel discounting anything as to cause

Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel can say nothing about the background of the stabbing or the motive of the suspect. "It's still way too early for that," he said. He also could not say whether there will be a terror investigation opened, but he says nothing is being ruled out.

https://www.at5.nl/artikelen/231704/liveblog-volg-hier-de-ontwikkelingen-rondom-de-steekpartij-in-het-centrum

(This article has a video of the suspect under arrest.)

According to police, victims stabbed randomly

The police have just given additional information on the victims who were stabbed. They are a 67-year-old woman from America, a 69-year-old man from America, a 26-year-old man from Poland, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, and a 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam.

"We are conducting a full investigation, but it appears they were all randomly stabbed," says the spokesman.

https://www.gelderlander.nl/binnenland/geschokte-getuigen-zien-hoe-slachtoffers-amsterdam-van-achteren-worden-aangevallen-bel-de-ambulance~a7f02bf4/

The Gelderlander (nl) has security camera footage of the suspect running from the scene and being chased. His face is blurred. There is also an image apparently taken by a cell phone with slightly clearer image of the suspect.

*Update (3-27-2025): A source in the Netherlands tells me the suspect is a Ukrainian. Likely a mental case. This is not confirmed, however.

Germany, Buchenwald, and the SS Bosnian Division

Buchenwald

Back in 2009, I posted an article on this site about the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who spent World War 2 largely in Berlin as Hitler's guest. While there, the Mufti sent out radio broadcasts to his brethren in the Middle East urging them to expel the Jews. In addition, he also assisted in the formation of a Bosnian Muslim Waffen-SS division.

Today in the German daily, Welt, I came across an article on some 100 of the volunteers who joined the Bosnian unit and who later deserted. After their arrests, they were transported to Buchenwald. 

The below reference to Ettersberg refers to the hilly area above the city of Weimar, which is only a few miles from Buchenwald. It is here that the former concentration camp sits. The area was first noted as where Goethe used to wander and write many of his works while living in Weimar.

Ettersberg

The below article in Welt is translated by Fousesquawk.

History

Handschar Division

How Muslims of the Waffen SS came to Buchenwald

Posted 21:03

Caption: Volunteers of the Waffen-SS from Bosnia-Herzogovina during drill exercises, here a staff infantry company. Source: Picture Alliance.

At the end of 1944, at least two transports of Muslim prisoners reached the Buchenwald concentration camp. The more than one hundred Bosnians were members of the Waffen-SS and deserted in their homeland. To date, little is known about their fate.

The weather was unusually mild for a March 23rd. The Buchenwald concentration camp said goodbye to Latif Kostura on this spring day in 1945 with a mix of sunshine and clouds, according to the weather reports. The farmer from Visoko, Bosnia had spent the entire winter on the Ettersberg over Weimar. His fight for survival lasted exactly 123 days. Now he and a handful of men who had been brought to Buchenwald with him were free-on parole. 

All of them belonged to one of the most unusual prisoner groups in Buchenwald. According to the available files online from the Arolsen Archives in Buchenwald, 56 men arrived at the concentration camp in Thuringia on 21 November 1944 from Mostar. All of them were Muslims. All were members of the Waffen-SS in the 13th Mountain Infantry "Handschar" Division before their arrests. A second transport with some 50 Muslim deserters of this unit arrived in Weimar on 23 December via the Dachau concentration camp.

The Handschar Division was established on March 1, 1943 by Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945). Himmler was enthusiastic about the philosophical connections between National Socialism and Islam. The ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was derived from the Koran, seemed to overlap with National Socialism. Many Germans and parts of the Arab world were especially united as to the so-called Jewish question.

Caption: The image from NS propaganda shows members of the 13th Volunteer Bosnian-Herzogovina Mountain Division during a prayer exercise, taken in December 1943. Source: Picture Alliance, photo archive for contemporary history/Archive.

The SS quickly began recruiting the so-called "Musel-Germans". The support of the Grand Mufti Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (ca 1896-1974), who as an opponent of the then-British Mandate in Palestine, often collaborated with Hitlerian Germany, was helpful here. Altogether, 21,000 mostly Bosnian Muslims responded to the recruitment to defend their Islamic homeland against the Serbian-dominated bands under partisan leader Tito (1892-1980). 

 Soon, however, the alliance between the Germans and their Bosnian auxiliary troops began to crack. Many of the volunteers had joined the Waffen-SS in the hope of defending against the attacks by Orthodox Serbs and the Croats, who were also allied with the Germans. The Muslims first fought in northern Bosnia and soon became notorious for their extraordinary brutality. In mid-1944, however, the defeat of the Germans against the troops of the partisan leader Tito became increasingly clear. Many Handschar soldiers changed sides or saw little sense in fighting further.

Presumably, Latif Kustora also had enough of the war. According to interrogation records of the US Army, all his comrades, who had remained in Buchenwald until its liberation, gave desertion as the reason for their arrest. Kustora was arrested in Sarajevo in mid-October 1944.

He did not escape the field of battle. Because Kustora and some other deserters left Buchenwald on 23 March 1945 at the behest of the SS and police court in Kassel and with the order to prove themselves in the 13th SS Training and Replacement Battalion in the Austrian mining town of Leoben. Other prisoners were released on 4 April for the same purpose. Some Muslims actually arrived in Leoben. Afterward, however, their tracks were lost in the darkness of history.

The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation only knows of the case from written records in its archives. To date, historical research into these transports and what happened to the men after the war has not been investigated. SS court and administrative files in the German Reich, as well as Mostar (Croatia) are no longer available.

Only the fate of a few men is clarified beyond any doubt, like, for example, that of Mohamed Kahrmanovic. The nurse died on 1 February 1945 in Buchenwald, according to his death certificate, as a result of acute heart failure. 

Italy: Milan Celebrates Ramadan

Piazza del Duomo, Milan

Under the feckless leadership of Mayor Giuseppe "Beppe" Sala, the city of Milan is sponsoring Iftar events breaking the fast of Ramadan. Some are not so supportive of the idea. The below article from Il Giornale, is translated by Fousesquawk.

"Submission to Islam". And (Milan mayor) Beppe Sala sponsors Ramadan in Milan

The municipality of Milan has sponsored two events, of which one is with Municipio 3 (district), for the breaking of the Ramadan fast in the square

Francesca Galici  22 March 2025 at 16:54

The municipality of Milan has decided to sponsor not one, but two events connected to Ramadan in the city. One was held yesterday, 21 March in Duca D'Aosta Square, the square in front of the Central (Train) Station building, sadly noted for being one of the principal sites of (drug) dealing in Milan. Every night there are dozens of dealers, often immigrants and illegals, who are found in this location selling drugs, but bored and conscious of having nothing to lose, are often protagonists in more varied forms of violence, often also sexual. The square has been organized for Iftar since 21 March by the Qatari Consulate General in Milan in collaboration with the Jasmine Association.

But that's not all because this evening, the municipality of Milan and Municipio 3, in collaboration also with the youth of the Democratic Party, have sponsored the event organized by the Association of Young Muslims of Italy, Milan chapter that is held beginning 5 pm in Leonardo Da Vinci Square on the viale Romagna side. The association announced it with a social media posting speaking of a "historic event that is about to occur. The pulsating heart of Milan will host a community Iftar."  Further, the announcement invites whoever wants to participate to bring "something to share, your prayer rug". The event, it continues, "has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Young Muslims of Italy, Milan chapter, with the Young Muslims of Italy, Monza chapter, the Young Democrats, and the sponsorship of Municipio 3 of Milan.

"The left is no longer hiding: The level of submission to Islam knows no limits. This evening, the young people of the Democratic Party will be in Leonardo Square to break the fast of Ramadan along with the Muslim community. An event to which Municipio 3 has even granted sponsorship," reads a statement by Silvia Sardone and Samuele Piscina, representatives of the Lega (League Party) in Milan. "The radical chic has invited everybody to bring a prayer rug and food to share: Who cares if the Muslims in the city do whatever they want, from illegal mosques, revolts in the suburbs, and rights denied to women," they continue.

"But that's not all: The president of the city council of Milan, (Sala) from the Democratic Party, will participate this evening in a dinner inside one of the religious locations not yet legalized by the municipality to 'discover the mystery of Ramadan'. For the left, it's all valid, but for us, on the other hand, legality, transparency, and Christian roots still have an important value," they conclude. 

Germany: Numerous Folk Festivals Being Canceled Due to Terror Risks

It is hardly surprising that it has come to this: In Germany, numerous folk festivals, a huge part of German culture, are being canceled due to the threat of Islamic attacks. There is nothing paranoid about this. For several years now, the country has suffered unprovoked and deadly attacks by Muslim migrants. The annual Christmas markets are under particular threat to say nothing of random car attacks. I mean, what's next-the Oktoberfest?

Oh wait!

The below article from the German blog, Journalisten Watch, is translated by Fousesquawk.

Islamic terror has reached its goal: The first German folk festivals canceled

It is only German folk festivals, which due to fear of Islamic terror, must be canceled. On the other hand, foreign folk festivals still take place, often with minimal security measures. 

Flea markets, fairs, and Easter bonfires are being canceled en masse. The growing danger of terror through Islamic terror attacks and inadequate security measures. The costs of measures against this Islamic terror- in 5 to 6-figure amounts- blow up the budgets of many event organizers and municipalities, who, because of the delusional "taking in of refugees", are facing bankruptcy.  "We will keep our way of life!" This overused phrase no longer applies to Germans.  While only German folk festivals are being canceled, on the other hand, foreign festivals go on, often with minimal security measures. 

German festivals currently canceled

Lage (NRW) The Spring Fair is canceled. Security measures are simply not manageable. 30 trucks would be necessary for security.

Marburg ( Hesse) The Cherry Blossom Festival in April is canceled due to the "abstract danger of terror".

Berlin-Friedrichshagen: The Bölschefest in May- Rides, flea markets, and theaters are canceled. Cement blocks are not sufficient to close the security gaps.

Berlin-Frohnau: The Easter bonfire is canceled. The voluntary fire department can no longer be responsible for carrying out the event.

Rheinfelden (Baden) No more City Fleamarket due to security considerations.

Schongau ( Bavaria): The sidewalk flea market on April 5 is canceled. Event organizer Guenter Fiebig clearly states: "I cannot take on the responsibility if a terrorist attacks with a car."

Dallgow-Doeberitz (Brandenburg). Walpurgis Night on April 30 is canceled.

Wismar (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern): "Wismar Blooms" is also canceled 

Elmshorn (Schleswig-Holstein) The Whitsuntide Ox Festival is canceled.

Germany seems more and more ready, with flags flying, to sacrifice its identity and its values on the altar of culturally alien mass migration.

The Madness Goes on at UCLA

 

In the past couple of weeks at UCLA, there has been more campus disruption on behalf of Hamas, Mahmoud Khalil, and financial demands from the Faculty Association.

Here is an article from the  Daily Bruin (campus newspaper) also with video. This is labeled as a protest over the arrest and deportation process against Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. The article is dated March 16 and states the event occurred on Tuesday, which would put the protest on March 11.

On March 19, a UC Regents meeting was disrupted by the Faculty Association protesting funding cuts. Outside the building, the pro-Hamas brownshirts were doing their thing. Here is the report from the Daily Bruin. Campus Reform also has an article on the  March 19 events here. It has a link to videos both inside and outside.

Enough is enough with UCLA. The entire UC system is being investigated by the feds for allowing anti-Semitism to grow and fester on its campuses, virtually every one. Like Columbia, it is time to take away federal funding here as well. It's the only way to force these people to get serious about anti-Semitism on their campuses other than just making statements.

As a side note, have you noticed how the pro-Hamas crowd likes to put their women out front and center with the bullhorns?  It seems to be a trend that has been growing over the last few years. That doesn't say much for the men in that movement, does it?

Deportation Effort at Georgetown University

Georgetown University

While most national attention regarding campus anti-Semitism and the Trump administration's efforts to deport those non-citizens who are promoting it on our college campuses is devoted to Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil, there is another story simmering at Georgetown University in Washington DC. 

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, who is a fellow at Georgetown's Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Christian and Muslim Understanding, a controversial entity in its own right, has been arrested by DHS and is in a holding facility in Louisiana pending deportation. He is accused of having ties to Hamas. A federal judge has ordered DHS not to deport Suri pending court hearings, and the left-as well as Georgetown itself- is all in a either in support of Suri.

Suri is married to a Georgetown student of Palestinian origin, Mapheze Ahmad Yousef Saleh, whose father, Ahmed Yousef, is identified as a longtime Hamas official. Suri's defenders are arguing that he is a recognized peace activist who is being targeted for deportation because of his wife's (who is an American citizen) family ties.

First of all, here is Suri's Georgetown webpage.

Next, if you go to The Hoya, the campus newspaper of Georgetown University, they are predictably supporting Suri. The current edition has articles devoted to the story here and here. 

But there is much more to the story. Anna Stanley, writing for Campus Watch, has additional details here outlining Suri's active support for Hamas including their actions on and after October 7, 2023.

Additionally, the website, Camera on Campus, which focuses on exposing campus anti-Semitism in US universities, has details here on Saleh's own activities and statements. National Review also has more on Saleh here.

If Campus Watch, National Review, and Camera on Campus are correct, it would appear that Suri and Saleh are much more than just an Indian peace activist and his American wife who had a father who was a Hamas official. In addition, it would appear to be more than just two people whose sympathies are with the Palestinians, which is their right. There is a difference between sympathizing with the Palestinians and supporting Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization. There is also a difference between sympathizing with Palestinians and espousing anti-Semitism on a college campus as has been alleged. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the questionable nature of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Christian and Muslim Understanding. This is a center that has been under the microscope for years. One of its founding members, Professor Jonathan Brown, the son-in-law of deported ex-professor at the University of South Florida, Sami al-Arian, has a history of controversial statements including once defending slavery as it was practiced by Muslims in past centuries.

Going back to Ms. Saleh, she is an American citizen, so she is immune from any talk of deportation. It's a different story with Suri. If, as alleged, he has contributed to anti-Semitism on campus-or anywhere else, and if he has ties to Hamas, in my view, he should be deported. Let him support Hamas from his native India. Not here.

France: Schoolboy Attacked With Machete

On March 17,  in the French municipality of Plaisir (Yvelines) just west of Paris, a 15-year-old schoolboy was attacked by a man as he was walking home from school. The boy ran but was chased down by the man who was armed with a machete. The boy was injured by deep cuts to his knees, shins, and neck before a school counselor was able to chase the attacker away. Police are now searching for the suspect who is described only as an Algerian male who reportedly was an "acquaintance" of the boy's mother. He is described as an Algerian national who had previously been deported from France, had secretly returned, and was under an order to leave the country.

Just another day in France. I asked one of my French sources why this happens every day but he had no clue.

The below article in Le Figaro is translated by Fousesquawk. 

Yvelines: 15-year-old attacked with machete, suspect on the run is object of order to leave French territory

By Alexandra Perrini

Posted 19 March 2025 at 13:03, updated 20 March 2025 at 15:10

The alleged attacker, an Algerian national, had been expelled from the territory in July 2024 prior to returning clandestinely to France.

A 15-year-old minor was injured by blows from a machete on Tuesday in Plaisir (Yvelines) near his school, Le Figaro has learned according to sources confirming information from Parisien. The suspect, still on the run, is an Algerian national, subject to an obligation to leave the territory (OQTF). Expelled in July 2024, he then returned to France clandestinely, the prefect of Yvelines and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Versailles told Figaro on Wednesday. An investigation has been opened.

According to our information, the man is said to be an "acquaintance" of the victim's mother. He reportedly assaulted the older sister of the adolescent a year before, and was reportedly tried for this offense. Contacted on this matter, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Versailles was not in a position to confirm this information at this time.

Injuries to knees, shins, and neck

The events occurred in the middle of the afternoon. At the exit of the Guillaume Apollinaire School, the suspect, armed with a machete, waited for his victim before following him. Noticing that the individual was following in his footsteps, the minor managed to run to the sports field of the Alain Fournier Primary School, located 350 meters from the (victim's) school. The suspect finally caught up with him striking him with several blows.

By chance, a school counselor, a witness to the scene, managed to chase the attacker away, a police source indicates to Figaro. The victim was then sheltered in the school cafeteria, and the counselor immediately contacted law enforcement, stating that a pupil had received several blows from a machete from an individual, a second source stated. When the police team arrived at the scene, they could only ascertain the injuries to the adolescent- (who) showed "fairly deep" wounds to the knees, the shins, and the neck. When he was questioned by investigators, he confirmed that he was followed and attacked by the suspect.

Yellow Kangoo (Renault van)

According to his statements, the man was dressed all in black and was wearing a fluorescent orange vest. On it was inscribed a business logo, our source continues, noting that the victim reportedly had the time to make out the letters, "SP" written on it.

Also questioned by the police, the counselor who took the adolescent in also confirmed the facts. He reportedly also saw the suspect get into a Kangoo-type vehicle, yellow in color, with a ladder on the roof. The suspect reportedly fled toward rue (street) du Bois a Plaisir, and reportedly disappeared at that moment, the same source says. 

While walking around the sites of the attack, police questioned two children who were playing near the school gym. They reportedly also were witnesses to the attack a few minutes earlier.

Germany: Stabbing in Refugee Center in Gronau

Gronau, Germany

German police in the town of Gronau, located across from the Dutch border, are searching for a 33-year-old Iraqi man who allegedly stabbed an Iranian employee of a refugee center, injuring him seriously, before fleeing. 

The below article from the German daily, Zeit, is translated by Fousesquawk. While the article does not describe the shelter as a refugee center as opposed to say, a homeless shelter, Dutch media describe it as a refugee center. The Zeit article is copied directly from DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur)

Caretaker seriously injured with knife (attack)-Police looking for perpetrator

Updated 20 March 2025 at 18:08. Source: DPA (news) North Rhine Wesfalia

Caption: Police are searching for a man who allegedly seriously injured a 36-year-old with a knife.

A man allegedly seriously injured a caretaker with a knife after an argument in a community shelter. in Gronau. Late in the afternoon, police announced that they were still searching for the fleeing attacker. 

The victim is a caretaker employed by the city of Gronau. The 36-year-old was operated on in a Dutch clinic. He is reportedly not in a life-threatening condition, said a police spokesperson. However, as yet, he is not able to be interviewed.

 Previous personal disagreement

The attacker is allegedly a 33-year-old resident of the shelter from Iraq. The background of the dispute is reportedly a personal disagreement between the perpetrator and the victim, according to police. This was confirmed by further investigation, it was reported early in the evening. It cannot be assumed that the alleged perpetrator is "a random knife attacker running around,". the police spokesperson stressed. 

The 147 residents of the shelter were temporarily evacuated and brought into a community hall. In the afternoon, they were all returned, the police reported. "The security of the property is ensured," an announcement stated.

Netherlands: 4 Sentenced for Anti-Jewish Pogrom

Amsterdam, November 2024

-Times of Israel

Last November, a soccer match in Amsterdam involving a visiting Israeli team ended in a pogrom when Israeli fans and other Jews were violently attacked after the match by Jew-hating thugs, mostly, if not all from Middle Eastern backgrounds.

Today, a judge sentenced 4 of those charged to jail terms up to 12 weeks for their roles in the violence. The heaviest sentence was for a defendant identified only as Cenk D, for inciting violence and condoning the Holocaust in a WhatsApp posting.

In Israel, the light sentences were understandably greeted with disgust. The Times of Israel has a more detailed account with the first names of all of the defendants.

The below article from Telegraaf is translated by Fousesquawk.

Jail sentences for role in Jew-hunt after Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv: Cenk D. charged with condoning Holocaust

Posted today at 12:13

On Wednesday, the Amsterdam Criminal Court sentenced 4 men to up to 12 weeks in jail for their role in the Amsterdam riots surrounding the soccer match between Ajax- Maccabi Tel Aviv last November. They were convicted for among other things, inciting violence and insulting statements about Jews.

Caption: The judge has sentenced four men to jail terms of up to 12 weeks for their role in the riots after the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv (match).  

Even before the soccer match at the end of last year, unrest was growing in the city. After the match, violent incidents took place in the center of Amsterdam,. Fans of Maccabi were often the targets of violence. Israeli fans also misbehaved but were subsequently victims of a "Jew hunt", which led to shock in the Netherlands and internationally.  

Condoning the Holocaust

The judge sentenced 27-year-old Cenk D. to 12 weeks in jail. The judge heavily considered that in Whatsapp postings, he condoned the Holocaust. "The Jewish persecution in the Second World War is one of the most shocking events in the history of mankind. It has caused untold suffering. Right up to the present day," said the judge. Prosecution for condoning the Holocaust is a relatively new article of law, which up to now, has been applied one time. 

An Article From Aruba on Papiamentu

About 20 years ago when I was researching my book on the history of the Papiamentu creole language of the Dutch Antilles (The Story of Papiamentu- A Study in Slavery and Language, University Press of America, 2002), I interviewed Ramon Todd Dandaré, who is a scholar on the history and evolution of Papiamentu on the island of Aruba.

By chance, I came across this article in Diario, the Papiamentu-language newspaper of Aruba featuring an article on a talk Ramon gave at the Aruban National Library. I thought I would translate it, partially because it just gives me a little more practice in the language. The article itself is brief, so it only gives a brief overview of what Ramon had to say, which I am sure was in much more detail. 

Papiamentu became very quickly the language of the entire population, including also the Caquetio indigenous people

March 17, 2025

Ramon Todd Dandaré, teacher of linguistics: The evolution and emancipation of Papiamentu

Oranjestad (Aruba) In the framework of the International Day of the Mother Language, a very interesting talk took place today at the Aruba National Library given by Ramon Todd Dandaré, teacher of linguistics on the topic: The evolution and emancipation of Papiamentu-from language of the slave to language of the university.

In relation to this talk, which was offered during the past two nights, Todd Dandaré elaborated on the origin and evolution of Papiamentu and indicated the following: Papiamentu is an Atlantic creole language and is the official national language of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the ABC islands). It is a language born and evolved in slavery, and, the same as the slaves, Papiamentu had to fight and is still fighting to achieve its complete emancipation and total recognition.

Same as the majority of the territories of the Caribbean, the ABC islands are multilingual and multicultural. In the case of multilingualism, which concerns the local national and official language, Papiamentu, the majority language on all three islands, the colonial language, Dutch, and the languages of the former colonized and immigrant population: English and Spanish. In addition to a large quantity of other languages spoken on the islands. Multiculturalism not only pervades the Aruban culture itself, rather along with this, is a culture that lives alongside and together with the Aruban (culture).

Origin of Papiamentu

Considering that Papiamentu arose and evolved principally on Curaçao, we can deduce the following: Papiamentu originated as a so-called proto-African-Portuguese creole on the West Coast of Africa, particularly Cabo Verde, from where, together with the African slaves, it arrived on Curaçao, continuing to evolve after which it spread to Aruba and Bonaire for its later evolution on all three islands (and later also in the Netherlands) taking on over the course of time, the necessary influences of all the ethnic-social groups of inhabitants of the islands up to the present day and of the island population in the Netherlands.

Evolution of Papiamentu

From the beginning, Papiamentu rapidly became the language of all the people of Curaçao and later the general language of the other two islands. In the 17th century, the population of Curaçao consisted of 4 ethnic-social groups: The ruling Dutch Protestant class, the ruling Portuguese-Jewish class, who arrived on Curaçao in 1654, the Caquetio indigenous population, and the African slaves, who were under the domination of and in contact with the two ruling classes and the Caquetios. 

Among other things, because of their native languages, the Dutch and the Jews could not communicate easily with each other and/or did not want to lower themselves to communicate in the language of the other group. Aside from this, in the streets of Punda, Dutch, Jews, as well as slaves, lived near each other and next to each other.

As a result, the two groups, the Jews and the Dutch, made use of the slave language, as they themselves called it, as a lingua franca to communicate with each other. In contrast to what generally happens, the governing upper class did not impose its language on the lower slave class, nor did the colonizers  initially impose their language on the location that was colonized. That is the principal reason why Papiamentu very quickly became the language of the entire population, including also the indigenous Caquetios.

 

  

           

France: Just Another Day in a French School

I remember about 25 years ago reading an article concerning education in which the author related a conversation he was having with a high-ranking education official in Paris. The official told the author that on any day, at any hour, he knew exactly what subject was being taught in every public school in France. The theme of the article was that such top-down centralized control of education was a bad thing, a topic we are having today in regard to our own Department of Education and President Trump's attempt to disband it.

None of which has anything to do with the below article from the French site, Valeurs Actuelles. It's just a lead-in to the state of affairs in France. That's because virtually every day, like clockwork, students, teachers, and anyone else present on a school campus are being assaulted, threatened, or otherwise injured by the usual suspects. Generally, the weapon of choice in France seems to be the knife. 

So it was earlier today at a school in the northern French town of Auby when two female students were accosted and threatened with a knife and sprayed with tear gas by three male students, whom the Valeurs Actuelle described in the most insensitive of manner as, "North African types". (They were probably quoting somebody else.)

 

Auby, France

The article below is translated by Fousesquawk.

North: Two (female) students attacked at knifepoint by three (male) students in Auby

One of the arrested suspects placed a knife to the throat of one of the victims, none of whom were injured.

By Valeurs Actuelles.com

Posted 17 March 2025 at 21:55 

Three male students attacked two female students without apparent reason in Auby in the north during a noon break, on Monday, 17 March, according to our information. They were arrested and placed in custody.

The perpetrators also sprayed the adolescents with tear gas. A professor intervened, then the school principal, (who was) alerted, called the police. The knife and the tear gas canister were found on the male students.

The two victims were not injured. The three suspects, of "North African type" were arrested, transported to the Douai police station, and placed in custody, a police source indicates. An investigation has been opened.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD)

Mahmoud Khalil

-USA Today

As a sign of just how bad things have gotten at Columbia University, there is a coalition of 94 off-the-wall student groups making up the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD). Among the many silly organizations of identity-centered victims, you will most prominently find Students for Justice in Palestine (an arm of Hamas) and Jewish Voice for Peace, a deceptively named group who, in fact, are soulmates of SJP.

It should be noted at the outset that the Syrian student currently in ICE custody, Mahmoud Khalil, is a leading member of CUAD.

In November 2023, not long after the infamous October 7 attacks against innocent Israelis, mostly civilians, CUAD posted a piece in the campus newspaper, Columbia Spectator, outlining their goals-which go far beyond the Palestinian issue. 

 "Our coalition was reactivated in October 2023 in response to the overwhelming support for Palestinian freedom from students on Columbia’s campus." 

(October 8, I would bet.)

In August 2024, Campus Reform ran a piece quoting CUAD's description of their goals in an Instagram post  (which has apparently since been deleted). 

”We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization. We stand in full solidarity with every movement for liberation in the Global South. Our Intifada is an internationalist one-we are fighting for nothing less than the liberation of all people. We reject every genocidal, eugenicist regime that seeks to undermine the personhood of the colonized.” 

”As the fascism ingrained in the American consciousness becomes ever more explicit and irrefutable, we seek community and instruction from militants in the Global South, who have been on the frontlines in the fight against tyranny and domination which undergird the imperialist world order.”

Returning to the subject of Mahmoud Khalil, he is a Syrian national and not a US citizen. I would argue he is also not a "Westerner", but that is another issue. Knowing the stated goals of CUAD and knowing that he is a leading member of CUAD and has allegedly engaged in pro-Hamas activity at Columbia, including allegedly handing out  Hamas propaganda pamphlets or leaflets, is it not reasonable to deport this man?