the netherlands is a picture of relatively successful assimilation creditilvy njiokiktjien for the new york timesmarch 13 2017rotterdam the netherlands like many muslims ahmed aboutaleb has been disturbed by the angry tenor of the dutch election campaign farright candidates have disparaged islam often depicting muslims as outsiders unwilling to integrate into dutch cultureit is especially jarring for mr aboutaleb given that he is the mayor of rotterdam a fluent dutch speaker and one of the countrys most popular politicians nor is he alone the speaker of the dutch parliament is muslim the netherlands also has muslim social workers journalists comedians entrepreneurs and bankerstheres a feeling that if there are too many cultural influences from other parts of the world then what does that mean for our dutch traditions and culture said mr aboutaleb whose city the netherlands second largest is 15 percent to 20 percent muslim and home to immigrants from 174 countrieswednesdays elections will begin europes year of political reckoning the dutch race coming ahead of others in france germany and possibly italy will be the first test of europes threshold for tolerance as populist parties rise by attacking the european union and immigration making nationalistic calls to preserve distinct local culturesit is an especially striking gauge of the strength of antiestablishment forces that such calls are falling on receptive ears even in the netherlands a country that for generations has seen successive waves of muslim immigration if anything the netherlands is a picture of relatively successful assimilation especially when compared with nearby france or belgiumin the netherlands geert wilders one of the most stridently antimuslim politicians in europe recently described some moroccans as scum his party for freedom is expected to be one of three to receive the most votes challenging the centerright government of prime minister mark rutteif barriers exist many muslims like mr aboutaleb 55 who arrived in this lowlying country from a mountain village in morocco when he was a teenager speaking hardly a word of dutch say that hard work is nonetheless rewarded but mr aboutalebs extraordinary success story and sense that he was given many opportunities by the netherlands is more characteristic of an earlier generationimagecreditsergey ponomarev for the new york timesthere is no doubt that religious prejudice is on the rise in response to both the more recent influx of muslim immigrants and growing fears of terrorism in europe both are readily manipulated by politicians who promote the idea that there are now so many nonwhite nonchristians in the netherlands that dutch traditions will be lost or obliteratedyet there is a seed of fact there are more and more nonwestern migrants or their children in the netherlands comprising about 10 percent of the population in a country of about 17 million but not all of them are muslim there are for example a number of indians who are hindus or buddhiststhe latest figures released by the netherlands central bureau of statistics show a net increase of 56000 immigrants in 2015 and 88000