(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most Dutch adults reject a recent statement by their integration minister, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond. 56 per cent of respondents disagree with Ella Vogelaar, who said she expects the Netherlands to eventually adopt some of the traditions of Islam.

In September 2004, Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders quit the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Wilders criticized Muslims in the Netherlands for failing to properly integrate to society, and openly opposed Turkey's accession to the European Union (EU).

In November 2004, controversial filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered. Van Gogh directed a short motion picture that depicts a husband's abuse on a Muslim woman. Death threats to Wilders and other former VVD members were left at the crime scene.

On Jul. 16, Vogeelar said that the Netherlands should in the future be home to a "Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition." The following day, the Council of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands (RMMN) released a statement, saying the minister's comments showed a "great deal of courage."

VVD leader Mark Rutte said Vogelaar is "completely wrong", adding, "Christianity and the Bible are Jewish and Christian. That has nothing to do with Jewish integration." Wilders, who now leads the anti-immigration opposition Party for Freedom (PvdV), called for the integration minister's resignation.

Polling Data

Earlier this month, integration minister Ella Vogelaar said she expects the Netherlands to eventually adopt some of the traditions of Islam. Do you expect this to actually happen?

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