Mohamed Rabbae
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and activist of Moroccan descent.
Life
Rabbae fled in 1966 as a student from MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to the Netherlands, when activists against the regime of King Hassan II
Hassan II of Morocco
King Hassan II l-ḥasan aṯ-ṯānī, dial. el-ḥasan ettâni); July 9, 1929 – July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999...
were taken prisoner. In the Netherlands he finished his studies, carried out various activities and was involved in various actions for foreigners' rights, including the so-called 182 Moroccans church after asylum-seekers were threatened to be expelled by the then State Secretary of Justice Bert Haars in the first Cabinet-Van Agt. In 1983 he was director of the Dutch Center Foreigners (NCB).
In 1994, he became an MP for the political party GreenLeft
GreenLeft
GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...
. For the elections of that year he was one of the two top candidates, along with Ina Brouwer
Ina Brouwer
Ina Brouwer is a Dutch politician. She was chairperson of the Communist Party of the Netherlands in the House of Representatives and MP for GreenLeft, into which the CPN merged in 1989.-Education and early career:...
. During the campaign, in an interview with NRC Handelsblad, Rabbae expressed understanding for people who wanted the book The Satanic Verses
Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses was a purported incident where a small number of apparently pagan verses were temporarily included in the Qur'an by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, only to be later removed...
by Salman Rushdie banned. He said that "an attempt to have such a book banned with democratic means is better than following Khomeini and other forces of darkness". His party lost 1 of its 6 seats in those elections.
In 2002, Rabbae left parliament, and for some time he was an alderman in Leiden. On his first working day after a period of several months of absenteeism due to heart surgery, he resigned as an alderman. This was because of errors that had been made in his absence, but for which he took responsibility.
Rabbae is on the executive of several organizations, especially in the field of policies on ethnic minorities. In March 2008, he was co-organizer of a large public meeting on Dam Square
Dam Square
Dam Square, or simply the Dam is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the most well-known and important locations in the city.- Location and description :...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws...
.
On April 7, 2008 Rabbae stated in an interview that there should be an Islamic political party, "a kind of Islamic Christian Democratic Appeal
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
." He said he would be available as an adviser for such a party.