Dutch troops taught to keep hands off Qur'an

RNW, 24 February 2012, by Belinda van Steijn  

 (Photo: Flickr/the US army)

In a letter to his Afghan counterpart, President Barack Obama has apologised for the burning of copies of the Qur’an by US troops in Bagram. Afghans have been demonstrating for days against the latest violation of the holy Islamic book. A Dutch defence trainer says teaching soldiers about the sensitivities between different cultures would be better than an apology.

“This doesn’t do anyone any good, you cannot change what has happened,” says Dutch major Niels Roelen in response to news reports that Afghan rebels have killed foreigners. Mr Roelen has been deployed to the war-torn country in the past; nowadays, he teaches new recruits.

Sensitivities

Mr Roelen says you can prevent these kind of incidents by preparing troops properly for a mission. Of course, every country prepares its troops before any deployment - the Americans are no exception - but every counrty has it's own methods. Dutch training, he says, includes learning how to deal with cultural sensitivities - when do you shake hands, and when don’t you? A visit to a mosque in the Netherlands is part of the preparation.

“We speak to someone at the mosque who can tell us about their religion, what the do’s and dont's are and what the sensitivities are. The value a book like the Qur’an has for these people and that you must show respect for this.”

Once you understand the importance of a mosque or the Qur’an, you are better equipped to assess situations in practice. Mr Roelen tells a story about a house search in Afghanistan where the Qur’an was upside-down in a corner, as if it had been thrown there. Back home the troops had been taught not to touch the book.

“We froze the situation, as we call it. Then we asked the translator and local people to take a look at the situation. We wanted to be sure that we had not done it.”

Strange men

It is not just the Qur’an that requires special treatment. Afghan women have a completely different position in society than Dutch women. A lot of attention is paid to this in training, partly because soldiers will, at some point, have to search a house with women inside. Women often have their own room and are not allowed contact with strange men, so this can pose a problem for soldiers on a search.

“We don’t enter that room. If it does have to be searched, the women are taken to another room first. We treat the situation with respect. We show respect for people’s values as customary in their culture.”

Obligatory training

Mr Roelen thinks the most important thing is to practice these types of situations in advance. “More than anything you should not judge too much from your own perspective.” ISAF commander General Allen had already reached the same conclusion. He wants all troops in the international force in Afghanistan to follow an obligatory training course in which they learn how to handle religious material.

Related Articles:

Koran burnings put the heat on ISAF

US officers shot dead in Afghan protests over Qur'an burning

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? 


"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

".. If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening. ... "