Ebru Umar

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Ebru Umar
Born (1970-05-20) 20 May 1970
The Hague, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Ethnicity Turkish

Ebru Umar (born 20 May 1970) is a Dutch columnist of Turkish descent. Under the influence of Theo van Gogh, she gave up a career in management and became a columnist, first for van Gogh's website and, after he was assassinated, as his successor as a regular columnist of Metro.[1] A somewhat controversial columnist because of her criticism of Islam and her opinions on feminism, she writes for a number of Dutch magazines and has published four books.

Biography

Umar is the child of Turkish parents who came to the Netherlands in 1970. Her father is a retired anatomic pathologist, her mother an ophthalmologist.[2] She grew up in Rotterdam and attended the Gymnasium Erasmianum.[3] After studying management and working for a while as a manager, she began writing, under the influence of Theo van Gogh,[2] and wrote columns for his website (van Gogh was her "friend and mentor"),[4][5] and soon began writing for a number of other Dutch newspapers. In 2005 she took over van Gogh's column in Metro.[6] Umar is also the author of four books, and writes a weekly column for the Dutch women's weekly magazine Libelle[3] (in addition to doing interviews[7] and panel discussions[8] for the magazine) and for the Dutch feminist magazine Opzij.[9] Umar, an atheist, has a reputation for outspokenness, a characteristic her parents say she has had from an early age on,[2] and has suffered a violent attack as a result, when she was beaten outside her apartment in Amsterdam.[10]

Umar has been criticized as the stereotypical Muslim commentator who gets called up when a talk show needs a Muslim to "say something nasty" about other Muslims,[3] and her attack on Fatima Elatik, the director of Amsterdam's Stadsdeel Zeeburg whom she called a "token muslim" was noted by the media as well.[11] Others have criticized her for what they deem an all-too easy criticism of Dutch women,[12] who Umar claimed were lazy and would rather rely on child support than get a job[13] in a guest column in de Volkskrant, which was the third-most popular opinion piece in the Netherlands that year.[14]

Bibliography

  • Burka & Blahniks (2004)[15]
  • Vier over 8 (2005)
  • Geen talent voor de liefde (2005), diary-style reminiscences[16]
  • Turkse verleidingen (2008), a collection of travel stories set in Turkey[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Ebru Umar: VVD walgelijke huichelachtige partij, Verdonk wist in 2004 van echte naam Hirsi Ali". Nederlands Juridisch Dagblad (in Dutch). 18 May 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Maas, Cornald (9 February 2008). "'Het heeft geen zin tegen Ebru te zeggen dat ze haar mond moet houden'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brandt Corstius, Aaf (8 October 2009). "Een soort Fame-meets-Krachtwijk". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  4. ↑ Scroggins, Deborah (2012). Wanted women: faith, lies, and the war on terror : the lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. New York: Harper. p. 285. ISBN 9780062097958. 
  5. ↑ Jong, Perro de (3 November 2004). "Dutch fear loss of tolerance". BBC News. Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  6. ↑ "Ebru Umar opvolger Theo van Gogh". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 13 October 2005. 
  7. ↑ Tassier, Manu (19 May 2009). "'EUROPA mag geen moeial zijn'". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  8. ↑ Boevink, Wim (2 March 2002). "Even op de gang staan". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "'Ik blijf!': Turkse schrijfsters roeren zich.". Zuid-Kennemerland Dichtbij (in Dutch). 23 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  10. ↑ Reijn, Gerard (25 April 2006). "‘Twee kerels die een vrouw slaan, wat een moed’". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  11. ↑ Ramesar, Perdiep (20 January 2009). "Noem haar niet ’Marokkaanse’". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  12. ↑ Coninck, Herman de (17 October 2011). "'Gun mannen en vrouwen meer keuzevrijheid'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  13. ↑ Umar, Ebru (12 October 2011). "'Nederlandse vrouwen zijn luie donders'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  14. ↑ Visser, Jeroen (20 December 2011). "De populairste opinieartikelen van 2011: van 'het gelul' van Brussen tot 'het gelijk van Wilders'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  15. ↑ Moors, Annelies (2012). "The Affective Power of the Face Veil: Between Disgust and Fascination". Things: religions and the question of materiality (in Dutch). New York: Fordham UP. p. 291. ISBN 9780823239450. 
  16. ↑ Brink, Jan Auke (28 February 2006). "Rev. of Ebru Umar, Geen talent voor de liefde". 8Weekly (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 August 2012. 

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