In order to conduct the most effective interviews at
the China town Mosque, we had to ensure that there would be as many people as
possible. We chose to go on Friday. Friday is the holy day for Islam, and it is when the mosque is
busiest as all the Muslims in the surrounding area gather to pray. To make our
interviews even more accurate we decided to focus on those who visited the
mosque on a frequent basis, and therefore our first question was based on the frequency of their visits. We arrived at the mosque a few minutes before
the end of prayer, and when everyone began coming out, we began asking
questions.
To our surprise, every single person that we interviewed knew that the
Mosque was formerly a synagogue, this appears to be something that is well
discussed among those who go to the Mosque. In fact, a number of people that we interviewed even knew the date of
the transition. Its former status as a synagogue meant nothing to
some, but for others it became apparent that it was very important. As it was
formerly a house of prayer many people from the Jewish community were happy that the building remained
standing for the same reason but just a different religion. Because of this
some believed that the transformation shows the tolerance of Islam. This also
works vice versa, as some older Jewish people were also pleased to see the
building continue as a house of prayer as opposed to being developed into a
cinema or something more commercially orientated. Others felt that the change, may have been
hard for some of the Jewish residents, however, because it is now a House of
Allah, it is a good thing. Another gave a much more
practical answer, and put the change down to demographics; ‘The Muslim
Community came here and was in need of a bigger mosque, so this was perfect’.
Following this we then tried to see if we could find anyone who knew of
any remnants of the synagogue in or around the mosque. Some of them were able to point out a
placard which has inscribed on it "Dutch Israeli main synagogue The Hague". When we asked a bit more on this topic, we were told
that because the structure of the building is actually a monument, no physical
changes to it can be made, however when such a change would take place, a
notice would have to be put up in order to recognise the change in later years.
This is also evident as the Mosque’s minarets were erected separately
from the building itself leaving no structural changes.
In order to be as sensitive on the topic as we could be, we chose not to
ask explicitly whether or not they think that more could be done to represent
the Jewish Community that was once more prevalent here. It is now a mosque, and there shouldn’t necessarily be a David’s Star
hanging around, a placard to represent the past is enough and it’s actually
very clear. So we then chose to ask one final question to our interviewees,
which was whether they knew about China Town’s history as the Jewish
neighbourhood. Some were able to point out the Children’s memorial and
others were able to point out the Amalek monument, but some people had no idea. The last person
we interviewed, had actually come to The Hague as a foreigner, and he felt that
it was because we made him aware of the historical background that he had to learn more about the history of China Town and
the Jewish Neighbourhood. He felt obliged to know the history of the city which he know lived in.
Naeeda Aurangzeb recently made a beautiful documentary about the changed character of the Wagenstraat and the history of the Mosque. She concludes that many people in the Turkish community do not understand her fascination with the Jewish history, as they were just always the 'different' people. But aren't we all different? The same goes for the Dutch shopkeepers who worry about the state of China Town, and while it is not as exuberant as in some other cities in the world, they worry about the growing foreign population. Someone we spoke to criticized the attitude of many people, who seem to think that religion is something that has to be practiced indoors. Any display of religion is frightening and a religious person is automatically 'different' and therefore untrustworthy. This is an alarming development in a multicultural city and country, where a part of the government actively strives for more tolerance.
Further information:
Documentary on the history of the mosque (Dutch)
To our surprise, every single person that we interviewed knew that the
Mosque was formerly a synagogue, this appears to be something that is well
discussed among those who go to the Mosque. In fact, a number of people that we interviewed even knew the date of
the transition. Its former status as a synagogue meant nothing to
some, but for others it became apparent that it was very important. As it was
formerly a house of prayer many people from the Jewish community were happy that the building remained
standing for the same reason but just a different religion. Because of this
some believed that the transformation shows the tolerance of Islam. This also
works vice versa, as some older Jewish people were also pleased to see the
building continue as a house of prayer as opposed to being developed into a
cinema or something more commercially orientated. Others felt that the change, may have been
hard for some of the Jewish residents, however, because it is now a House of
Allah, it is a good thing. Another gave a much more
practical answer, and put the change down to demographics; ‘The Muslim
Community came here and was in need of a bigger mosque, so this was perfect’.
Following this we then tried to see if we could find anyone who knew of
any remnants of the synagogue in or around the mosque. Some of them were able to point out a
placard which has inscribed on it "Dutch Israeli main synagogue The Hague". When we asked a bit more on this topic, we were told
that because the structure of the building is actually a monument, no physical
changes to it can be made, however when such a change would take place, a
notice would have to be put up in order to recognise the change in later years.
This is also evident as the Mosque’s minarets were erected separately
from the building itself leaving no structural changes.
Naeeda Aurangzeb recently made a beautiful documentary about the changed character of the Wagenstraat and the history of the Mosque. She concludes that many people in the Turkish community do not understand her fascination with the Jewish history, as they were just always the 'different' people. But aren't we all different? The same goes for the Dutch shopkeepers who worry about the state of China Town, and while it is not as exuberant as in some other cities in the world, they worry about the growing foreign population. Someone we spoke to criticized the attitude of many people, who seem to think that religion is something that has to be practiced indoors. Any display of religion is frightening and a religious person is automatically 'different' and therefore untrustworthy. This is an alarming development in a multicultural city and country, where a part of the government actively strives for more tolerance.
Further information:
Documentary on the history of the mosque (Dutch)
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