Anti-government extremism on the rise in Northern Netherlands: study
NL TimesAnti-government extremism is on the rise in Northern Netherlands, and the phenomenon is going largely unnoticed because the approach to radicalization mainly focuses on jihadism. In this first region-specific study into extremism, the researchers looked at all the extremist incidents in Northern Netherlands between 2014 and 2022 that made it into the media or court. “As a result, we see a broad anti-Randstad sentiment that is supported by strong feelings of social unease.” And that’s resulted in incidents like a molotov cocktail through a journalist’s window after he criticized opponents of the coronavirus policy, asbestos dumping in public areas due to the arrival of wind farms, and a farmer crashing his tractor through the Provincial House’s door in a protest against the nitrogen policy. As the approach to extremism and radicalization is mainly focused on jihadism, anti-government and right-wing extremism go largely unnoticed and have increasingly normalized in Northern Netherlands in recent years, the researchers said.