A good read: the best Dutch stories on the web this month

Photo: Pijllerss via Depositphotos.com
Photo: Pijllerss via Depositphotos.com

Cooking for refugees, real green electricity and a ban on short skirts. Ahead of the holiday weekend, here is our pick of the best longer reads from the international media and DutchNews.nl over the past month.

From lawyer to chef
Website Quartz carries a fascinating story about Syrian lawyer Kamal Naaje who is now cooking for hundreds of asylum seekers at an Amsterdam refugee centre.  ‘Dutch food is good – the volunteers are very generous in bringing it to us – but it is bland. We’re not used to it. We like spices,’ Naaje tells Quartz. Read on

First, pronounce inburgering
Deciding to go through the inburgering process and learn Dutch led Molly Quell to discover that some people still think CD-Roms are the height of new technology. And that her dog likes to eat language books. Read on

A WWII ghetto in Amsterdam
Israeli news website Arutz Sheva looks at the Amsterdam district of Asterdorp, an Amsterdam ghetto where Jews were charged inflated rents during World War II ahead of being deported. Stephan Steinmetz has written a book about the enclave and spoke to the website about his findings. Read on

Laser lights
Wired interviews Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde – the guy behind the Smart Highway and Smog Tower – on his most recent project, Windlicht, which pays homage to wind energy in the form of a laser light show. Read on

Cyber security
According to Computer Weekly, IT security is about to rival cheese, tulips, windmills and flood defences as an export from the Netherlands. The Dutch, the website says, have implemented several initiatives in the public and private sectors to improve cyber security, or ‘heighten’ the digital dykes, as it were – with success. Read on

Is the Netherlands becoming more prudish?
Hema dropping Easter, a ban on short skirts and a row over topless feminist university students… the Dutch papers have been asking if the Netherlands is becoming more prudish or simply kow-towing to Islam. Read on

A mother’s story
Munira Subasic lost 22 relatives in the massacre of Srebrenica in July 1995, including her husband and son. In this interview, she talks about burying the bones of her son and her feelings towards Radovan Karadzic, jailed for 40 years for war crimes. Read on

Football legend
No round-up would be complete without a long read about Dutch football legend Johan Cruijff, felled by lung cancer at the age of 68. This Guardian analysis of what made the Dutchman great is a must for football fans. Read on

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation