There’s a small disturbance in the Force here in the Netherlands at the moment. A civil servant, working for the Ministry of Security and Justice as a Project Leader for the National Cyber Security Centre, just so happened to tweet (and I paraphrase) that
“the terror group ISIS does not exist and it is all a Zionist plot to defame Islam”.
Yasmina Haifa, for it was she, has since deleted the tweet, claiming that she belatedly realised the political sensitivity in relation to her work (no, really?), but apparently stands by what she says, claiming, in a radio interview that
“Apparently freedom of speech in the Netherlands applies to particular groups and not to others”.
Not surprisingly, she has been sacked suspended from her job. However, she claims to have had no idea that her comments would cause such a fuss, saying in the radio interview that she
“…assumed I was living in a democratic country”.
Yes, Ms. Haifi, you are living in a democratic country. And freedom of speech does not absolve you from freedom from responsibility.
She appears to be either disingenuous or ignorant. Either way, she does not seem fit to hold the position of Project Leader at the National Cyber Security Centre.
