Amsterdam
A Dutch filmmaker whose movie about a mistreated Muslim woman caused outrage among the nation’s Muslim community this summer was shot dead in an Amsterdam street this week. Theo van Gogh, a great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent van Gogh, directed Submission, a fictional film about a Muslim immigrant forced into an arranged marriage and repeatedly raped. The film’s screenwriter, Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, is a conservative member of parliament who calls herself an “ex-Muslim” and often speaks out against Islam’s treatment of women. When the film was shown over the summer, Muslim activists denounced it as racist. A suspect in van Gogh’s killing was arrested near the scene of the murder, after an exchange of gunfire with police. Reports described him as a 26-year-old man of Moroccan descent.
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