I miss the days before people like me were looked on with suspicion in the streets of Amsterdam | Jamal Mahjoub

"The neighbourhood where I live in west Amsterdam is one of the most vibrantly diverse in the city, inhabited by people from every corner of the globe. Some are new arrivals, others are descended from parents and grandparents who came here 30 or more years ago. In the shopping mall I hear Arabic and Turkish along with Dutch, English and a smattering of other languages that I cannot readily identify."

"The market square is crowded with stalls selling all manner of vegetables, fish and spices, along with hijabs and abayas. The vendors call out in a mixture of Dutch and Arabic. My butcher addresses me as Abi Turkish for older brother even though he knows I am not from Turkey. There is a sense that we are all in this together, and it is up to us to make the most of it."

"If you read the eponymously titled book by Geert Mak, you will see that the city's history is one of tolerance and a pragmatic approach to difference, whether religious, racial or cultural. This pragmatism is a defining Dutch quality. Visitors see coffee shops and the red light district without understanding that the tolerance that created them is what has allowed the city to thrive and become what it is today."

West Amsterdam neighborhood is vibrantly diverse, inhabited by recent arrivals and long-settled families from around the globe. Shopping malls and market squares feature Arabic, Turkish, Dutch, English and other languages, with stalls selling vegetables, fish, spices, hijabs and abayas. Neighbors demonstrate mutual care through informal patrols and communal efforts to keep streets clean. Local interactions, such as a butcher addressing residents as Abi, reflect practical, everyday multiculturalism. Amsterdam's history reflects tolerance and pragmatism toward religious, racial and cultural difference, which underpins the city's unique character and social and economic flourishing. Political rhetoric portrays multiculturalism negatively amid debates on housing, cost of living and migrants, with fears deepening since the pandemic.

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