Irony

The irony that Buruma speaks of is incredibly evident through the life and death of Theo an Gogh. Van Gogh simply insulted anyone and everyone. He made fun of religion, politics, you name it, and used humor as a means to escape responsibility for his words, when in reality what he was saying was no joking matter. Also, van Gogh's death was ironic in that while during his life he attacked nearly everyone and seemed as though he had no definitive target, his killer believed that he did; so ultimately by trying to avoid responsibility for his words and actions, he received blame to the greatest extent possible.
The wearing of religious attire to show devotion and to stand out is ironic because while one is trying to make a personal statement to set themselves apart from the larger Dutch population, they do so in a way that requires them to blend in with other Muslims. So in their efforts to be unique and assert their beliefs, they become common.
The quote about rappers reminded me a bit about the discussion of the Dutch inaction during WWII in spite of their reputation for being incredibly tolerant. The same irony is seen with rappers, who rap about being murderers when in reality they would never do these things. Also, i find it ironic that tolerance in the Netherlands includes free speech, which for instance in the case of rappers, leads to speech that is quite intolerant.
I had a hard time finding a connection between the readings, but I guess the idea that too much knowledge limits knowledge can be related to tolerance. Too much tolerance can limits actual tolerance. For example, as I just mentioned with free speech, tolerance to the level that allows everyone to express themselves in an uninhibited manner can lead to the threat of losing the very tolerance that allowed for free speech to exist.
As for the idea that 2nd generation immigrants often feel alienated, I can't really speak much because I do not know first hand what it is like to be from an immigrant family. However, I do not believe that the alienation that may be experienced has to lead to extreme alliances and actions because there are many other, less radical approaches to dealing with alienation. I do recognize that alienation is often a cause for such alliances, yet I am not confident that this is the case for the majority of people feeling alienated for any reason.