No Such Dutch

"Holland is the result of immigration. It's a city-state - a harbour, not a nation. There's no such thing as Dutchness. One of the oldest towns in the Netherlands, Leiden, decided to track down the genealogical records of ten important families. None of them came from the Netherlands - all were from France, England, Germany, Eastern Europe. Are we denying people the right that we claimed for ourselves two or three centuries ago?"

The Dutch author Marcel Möring, of German descent himself, comments on the rise of anti-immigration politics in the Netherlands and Europe.

Posted by Hg on Monday 24 June 2002 at 12:24.
Received 7 comments so far.

I once knew a bloke who claimed to be pure bred English. He had red hair and a vaguely Scottish surname.

Comment by Gert on Monday 24 June 2002 at 14:49.

Didn't Michael Portillo once say something particularly stupid about immigrants? (Too tired to look it up.)

Comment by Stuart on Monday 24 June 2002 at 15:04.

Didn't Michael Portillo once say something particularly stupid?

Just stop the sentence there. Yes, that'll do.

Comment by Vaughan on Monday 24 June 2002 at 17:49.

... if you're happy to imply that it was just the once!

Comment by Stuart on Monday 24 June 2002 at 17:56.

I feel bad now that I've never read any of Möring's work. Or any other Dutch authors.

Comment by Caroline on Tuesday 25 June 2002 at 00:56.

If the interview is anything to go by, you're really missing out. I've read it four times now and each time I find myself more interested in him.

Comment by Stuart on Tuesday 25 June 2002 at 04:42.

He has his own website. Links to English translations of his books.

Comment by caroline on Tuesday 25 June 2002 at 05:23.

http://www.hydragenic.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hydragen/mt/mt-tb.cgi/119

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