From Ambon to Aleppo: A historical research in Dutch deradicalization policy

Abstract

Today’s terrorist threat is often described as a new phenomenon. Although there are certainly new aspects to radical Islamic terrorism, terrorism itself is not new. The Dutch government has faced several forms of terrorist activity in the previous century. One of the terrorist threats was posed by young Moluccan radicals in the 1970s. Being excluded from Dutch society, these radicals used terrorist methods to push the Dutch government towards negotiations about an independent Moluccan State. This terrorist threat by the Moluccans was countered by the Dutch government in two different ways. At first the Dutch government responded with a soft approach, providing alternatives to radical narratives. Later, when terrorist attacks did not stop, a more hard approach was adapted and violent solutions were found to end the terrorist attacks. It was the combination of this soft and hard approach that made Dutch deradicalization policy successful in the end, and allowed Moluccans to integrate relatively successful into Dutch Society. This is interesting because contemporary Dutch deradicalization policy is not constructed in the same way. One could say this is logical due to the different nature of Islamic terrorism. However, the groups that radicalize and turn to terrorist methods are in both cases second generation immigrants struggling with an identity crisis. Therefore, this paper makes a historical comparison between the Moluccan case and the Islamic case. It is useful to look at historical cases like the Moluccan case because it shows us that there are alternatives to contemporary securitization policy.