Bill visit us

PvdA raadslid Michiel Mulder heeft de Amerikaanse televisiepresentator Bill O’Reilly uitgenodigd om Amsterdam te bezoeken. In zijn talkshow Culture Warriors noemde O’Reilly Amsterdam een ‘beerput van corruptie, prostitutie en misdaad.’ Mulder nodigt O’Reilly uit om het tegendeel te laten zien.

Raadslid Mulder: ‘Het beeld dat O’Reilly schetst van Amsterdam is onjuist en staat ver van de werkelijkheid. Amsterdam is geen stad waar criminelen en drugsverslaafden de overhand hebben. Ik wil O’Reilly laten zien dat Amsterdam een prachtige stad is. Daarnaast wil ik laten zien dat Amsterdam met coalitieproject 1012 de criminaliteit aanpakt, drugsoverlast bestrijdt en vrouwenhandel en uitbuiting op de Wallen tegen gaat. Zonder dat het vrijzinnige karakter van de stad verloren gaat.’

Tijdens een uitzending van Culture Warriors in december 2008 werd Amsterdam voor de eerste keer neergezet als ‘moreel rampgebied.’ Onlangs deed O’Reilly dit nog eens dunnetjes over in reactie op het YouTube filmpje van de 25-jarige Amsterdammer Robbert Nieuwenhuijs.

Mulder: ‘Ik hoop dat O’Reilly de moeite neemt Amsterdam te bezoeken. Om te leren over de stad en om met eigen ogen te zien dat zijn kwalificaties absoluut onwaar zijn. Tijdens de eerste gemeenteraadsvergadering zal ik een voorstel indienen waarin ik het college vraag O’Reilly als officiële gast van de stad te ontvangen.’

Onderstaand de brief die Michiel Mulder vandaag naar Bill O’Reilly verstuurde.

Dear Mister O’Reilly,

I would like to invite you to visit Amsterdam. Since December 2008, the city of Amsterdam has been a regularly returning subject in your talk show item, Culture Warriors, broadcasted on the FOX Channel. Unfortunately, during your show Amsterdam has been portrayed as a modern Sodom and Gomorra. A city of sin. A city controlled by organized crime, by drug dealers, criminals and junks. A city run out of control, that can’t get family tourists to go there. As a liberal city that has attracted drug addicts and criminals from all over Western Europe.

The portrayed image of Amsterdam is false and lies far from the truth. Therefore I would like to formally invite you to visit Amsterdam, in order for you to learn about this city, about its beauty, the attraction it has had on 177 different nationalities. Moreover, you will also see how the city is coping with social dilemmas related to drugs, prostitution and crime.

The ‘modern Sodom and Gomorra’ has a liberal stand and pragmatic approach on soft drugs. Amsterdam will gradually close about thirty percent of the coffeeshops in the Red Light District. Not to ban soft drugs or because ‘it has not worked’, but to bring down the high concentration of coffeeshops in this part of the city centre and to restore the balance of functions. Furthermore, Amsterdam teaches kids – and other inhabitants for that manner – about the dangers of drug use, it supports drug addicts to quit their addiction and provides shelter and programs – based on the Minnesota model – to former drug addicts so they can return to society. As a result drug-related crime and nuisance has effectively been brought down.

In this ‘city of sin’ everybody is gay, according to a recently launched ad campaign by the municipality of Amsterdam in the U.S. During the Gay Pride 2009 the Mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen, named one of Time Magazine’s European Heroes in 2005, wed five Amsterdam-NYC gay couples. While doing that, tens of thousands of spectators cheered as Mayor Job Cohen performed the ceremony. Cohen stated that: ‘Your transatlantic love is proof of the lasting connection between old and new Amsterdam.’

In the city of ‘total anarchy’ police controls sex establishments, to verify that minors, illegal aliens, or women whom are forced, are not working as prostitutes. The police, urban district council and municipal health authorities are enforcing the existing laws, in order to prevent exploitation. Infringements such as nuisance, the presence of illegal prostitutes or employment of the minors are often the reason for the business closure. Amsterdam will not ban prostitution because ‘it has not worked.’ It wants to strengthen control and diminish the concentration of criminogene functions, without losing the liberal and historic character of this part of Amsterdam.

The city ‘that can’t get family tourists to there’ is the fifth busiest tourist destination in Europe, receiving more than 4 million international – mostly family – visitors annually. Every year Amsterdam welcomes close to half a million tourists from the U.S. For centuries Amsterdam has been witnessing a great increase in diversity from ethnic minorities, resulting in 177 different nationalities. The city recognizes the value this diversity has on society and culture and has created policies to reinforce this. Amsterdam is home to over 6.000 Americans and many more expatriates.

This ‘cesspool of crime and corruption’ might be the smallest, but is certainly one of the most exciting and diverse metropolises in the world. Amsterdam has a shared history and common values with other liberal cities like New York – a connection that will be celebrated this year with NY400. Many large international institutions and companies have their headquarters here. For several years Mercer Consulting ranked Amsterdam at number 13 on its annual listing of the World’s Best Cities to live in.

Come and see for yourself, Mr. O’Reilly, you are cordially invited! After the summer recess I will submit a proposal to the Amsterdam City Council, asking our Mayor Job Cohen and Alderman Lodewijk Asscher to receive you as a guest of our city. To show you around the Red Light District, to tell you all about the city’s plans to transform this area into a high-quality and diverse part of the city centre, without losing its liberal and historic character. You will find out for yourself that Amsterdam is an open and tolerant city, a city that respects and protects personal freedom, fights crime and enforces the law. A city to be proud of!

In closing, I would be pleased if you would visit Amsterdam. I look forward to hearing from you and to having you visit Amsterdam to further discuss your position and point of view on the city. Please feel free to contact me by email [email protected].

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Social Democratic Party in the Amsterdam City Council,

Michiel Mulder (Member City Council Amsterdam)