escaping from its human host, all jaws and claws and flailing tails. I ran to my room and slammed the door.
Unlike Anne Frank, at least I had my own room.
#
I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, tormenting myself, completely racked with guilt. It was me who had insisted on going to dinner with Marjon and Nicholas. Hungry for adventure, flattered the Dutch couple took an interest in us—in me—I had ignored Peter. If we hadn’t gone to Marjon’s , we wouldn’t have seen the murders and would still be in Amsterdam or some other place in Europe. He was right to blame me, to hate me. He didn’t even turn around to look at me when security dragged him away.
Now Peter was in some military jail cell—I couldn’t imagine how horrible—and my selfishness put him there. Imprisoned, without free will for the first time in his life. Strange sounds—clanging doors, moans from other prisoners, telephones, voices, footsteps—keeping him awake. He must be terrified.
I wanted him beside me, his hands on me, his breath on my neck, his mouth on my mouth. I wanted to press all of my skin against all of his skin. If I imagined him vividly enough, maybe I could save him.
Frustrated, I threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went to open the window. A crescent moon hung in the black sky.
A crescent moon, the symbol of Islam.
The symbol of submission.
Chapter Four
Over the next two weeks I split my time between reading newspapers and watching television in a nearly catatonic state of horror.
Just as soon as Amsterdam seemed to be settling down and the curfews and military presence seemed to be quieting the population, renewed violence broke out across the city. Islamic riots and demonstrations paralyzed the city. A local Salafi Imam declared the Muslim Slotervaart district, home of Mohammed Bouyer , the murderer of Theo Van Gogh, was now under Islamic law. Utrecht was taken over by Islamists, who stormed local government buildings and burned them to the ground. In The Hague, a group of officers of Islamic descent led the army in a coup. The ranks of the military, which were forty percent Muslim, overran the House of Parliament and local administrative offices, replacing local police with members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Queda . They liberated all Muslims held in prisons or jails, which was seventy percent of the prison population. A Muslim militia crossed the land putting local imams in charge. Salafists declared Holland an Islamist regime, and Imam Fawaz Jneid was declared “emir of the faithful.”
Panicked non-Muslim populations across Europe reacted swiftly, joining the rightwing Germany National Democratic Party, the French National Front, the Austrian Freedom Party, and the Flemish Interest Party. Emergency legislation in Belgium called for containment of Muslim neighborhoods and the closing of all mosques. Muslim schools were shuttered. Muslims on the streets in groups of more than three were arrested. Muslims were banned from driving in certain parts of the city. Muslims had to be indoors by eight o’clock. Muslims were forbidden to attend cinemas, theaters, and other places of entertainment. If these laws seemed reminiscent of Hitler’s anti-Jewish laws no one mentioned it.
Civil unrest spread to Northern European Countries that had large non-integrated populations of Muslims: Iraqis and Iranians in Sweden, Pakistanis in Norway, Turks in Denmark. Only Finland and Iceland, with almost no Muslims, remained unscathed.
The first city outside of Holland to fall was Malmö . Sweden’s third largest city, which was forty percent Muslim, declared itself an Islamic State. Within days imams in Muslim communities throughout Europe also declared their neighborhoods “Islamic Jurisdictions”: in Roubaix , France; in Bradford, England; in Copenhagen, Denmark; and
Unlike Anne Frank, at least I had my own room.
#
I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, tormenting myself, completely racked with guilt. It was me who had insisted on going to dinner with Marjon and Nicholas. Hungry for adventure, flattered the Dutch couple took an interest in us—in me—I had ignored Peter. If we hadn’t gone to Marjon’s , we wouldn’t have seen the murders and would still be in Amsterdam or some other place in Europe. He was right to blame me, to hate me. He didn’t even turn around to look at me when security dragged him away.
Now Peter was in some military jail cell—I couldn’t imagine how horrible—and my selfishness put him there. Imprisoned, without free will for the first time in his life. Strange sounds—clanging doors, moans from other prisoners, telephones, voices, footsteps—keeping him awake. He must be terrified.
I wanted him beside me, his hands on me, his breath on my neck, his mouth on my mouth. I wanted to press all of my skin against all of his skin. If I imagined him vividly enough, maybe I could save him.
Frustrated, I threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went to open the window. A crescent moon hung in the black sky.
A crescent moon, the symbol of Islam.
The symbol of submission.
Chapter Four
Over the next two weeks I split my time between reading newspapers and watching television in a nearly catatonic state of horror.
Just as soon as Amsterdam seemed to be settling down and the curfews and military presence seemed to be quieting the population, renewed violence broke out across the city. Islamic riots and demonstrations paralyzed the city. A local Salafi Imam declared the Muslim Slotervaart district, home of Mohammed Bouyer , the murderer of Theo Van Gogh, was now under Islamic law. Utrecht was taken over by Islamists, who stormed local government buildings and burned them to the ground. In The Hague, a group of officers of Islamic descent led the army in a coup. The ranks of the military, which were forty percent Muslim, overran the House of Parliament and local administrative offices, replacing local police with members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Queda . They liberated all Muslims held in prisons or jails, which was seventy percent of the prison population. A Muslim militia crossed the land putting local imams in charge. Salafists declared Holland an Islamist regime, and Imam Fawaz Jneid was declared “emir of the faithful.”
Panicked non-Muslim populations across Europe reacted swiftly, joining the rightwing Germany National Democratic Party, the French National Front, the Austrian Freedom Party, and the Flemish Interest Party. Emergency legislation in Belgium called for containment of Muslim neighborhoods and the closing of all mosques. Muslim schools were shuttered. Muslims on the streets in groups of more than three were arrested. Muslims were banned from driving in certain parts of the city. Muslims had to be indoors by eight o’clock. Muslims were forbidden to attend cinemas, theaters, and other places of entertainment. If these laws seemed reminiscent of Hitler’s anti-Jewish laws no one mentioned it.
Civil unrest spread to Northern European Countries that had large non-integrated populations of Muslims: Iraqis and Iranians in Sweden, Pakistanis in Norway, Turks in Denmark. Only Finland and Iceland, with almost no Muslims, remained unscathed.
The first city outside of Holland to fall was Malmö . Sweden’s third largest city, which was forty percent Muslim, declared itself an Islamic State. Within days imams in Muslim communities throughout Europe also declared their neighborhoods “Islamic Jurisdictions”: in Roubaix , France; in Bradford, England; in Copenhagen, Denmark; and
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