...meanwhile, back in Amsterdam, all is quiet on the Nieuw Western front. Last night went off without incident in that area.

Following the rioting of last week, the police (there were 800 there Thursday night plus 400 ME aka riot police) who had had 2 very long days stated they needed a break. The Mayor of Amsterdam suspended the right of protest/demonstration for a few days as, due to the cops being knackered, she couldn't guarantee safety for the protestors or any counter protestors or joe public caught in the middle. Sensible.

A group of pro Palestinian protestors followed the rules and applied to hold a protest on Dam Square. As the protest ban was due to expire today, they were told they could hold their protest on a patch of land close to the Westergasfabriek. 300 to 400 appeared... on Dam Square. Several were arrested for having their faces covered, something which was included in the protest ban. More were arrested for refusing to leave the Square. To bring en earlt end to proceedings the police contacted the Amsterdam Council bus department, hired a fleet of buses which duly arrived and the protestors were herded onto the buses and driven to the Westergasfabriek to continue their protest. Once there they decided they didn't wish to protest there so they all went home.

Meanwhile, the political rhetoric is calming down and, especially Ministers in the right wing coalition and left wing politicians in general, are now pushing the fact that very many Moroccan Muslims are actually integral parts of society. It is a small number of younger people, many of them born in the Netherlands who feel they don't have a voice, don't have a chance in life... it is those few, some of whom are in the "Mocro Mafia", a Moroccan drugs gang whose violence in the drugs world knows no bounds, the rest simply don't see any chance of ever being a success in the country of their birth.

It's only the odd politician, such as Wilders, still pushing the "all Moroccans are bad, all Muslims are bad" narrative. Talk shows are featuring Muslims with a migration background and they are talking sense. One, a Law Student named Yassin, was very eloquent last night on one show I saw. There was another, mid 20s, who acts as a street coach advocating the same. That it's a minority causing the trouble. Countless stallholders on markets and their customers are doing the same, condemning the violence.

As bad as it was, it might just be the start of taking positive action to stop the alienation these young uns feel and and maybe pull them back into the fold. We shall see.