Netherlands

Although the Menorah has been cleaned and polished and has re-taken its place in our silver cabinet, I still can’t get those pure flames out of my head…to banish the darkness.

But, in order to banish that darkness, the government urged me not to make any political statements in my speeches that I would make when lighting the public Menorahs. I listened obediently but in retrospect I wonder whether I was right to do so.

De-escalation and ‘poldering’ (that is building protective walls around community sensitivities) are two words that the Dutch excel at.

Did they prevent the Syrian slaughterhouses? Did keeping silent about the horrible cruelties in Africa make the indescribable suffering less? Underground prisons in Iran? Hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Islamic minorities are locked up in ‘re-education camps’!

Does turning a blind eye help? During my Chanukah Tour, I deliberately spoke only about darkness in countless places. I don’t think I even mentioned Israel once and I had safely stored away my slogan anti-Semitism = anti-Zionism, so as not to engage in politics.

And what did my silence and looking the other way lead to? During one of my meetings I was accused of celebrating Chanukah while in Gaza… shame on me for not mentioning that! True, but besides Gaza there are hundreds of other hotbeds, why don’t they raise questions? When will an international arrest warrant be issued against Assad?  He deserves a cum laude in the field of physical and mental torture and murder. If he had been a Jew, he would have been put to the slaughterhouse without any form of protest and with a number of UN resolutions.

Too bad, I think, that he is not a Jew. I would have liked to see him dangling from the gallows, if necessary as a fake Jew. I have not made any political statements, ignored the pure flame within myself…

But, I have proclaimed that the Maccabees fought for freedom of religion and however apolitically intended, I have hurt many whose faith does not allow room for dissenters, because in their ‘holy’ view every person must convert to their faith and if that cannot be done by fair means, then by force.

Am I fantasizing? I don’t think so, because if we look around us, we see many countries where the population is forced into a way of life that has nothing to do with freedom of religion or freedom of thought.

In fact, everything is political, because ‘no politics’ is blatantly political here!

“Dear attendees”, I began my speech, “I know that you are all blessed with a high IQ, and so you know that the world-famous professor Stroempelmacher has proven that…”.

Because I have told everyone that they are intelligent and because professor Stroempelmacher, in my opinion, is world-famous and the attendees must therefore know him, no one dares to raise a hand and ask who Stroempelmacher is and to question my assertion statement.

Let me state first that the hunt for Jews in Amsterdam is completely unacceptable and I hope and expect that the anti-Semites will be arrested and severely punished. I think that is very important, but unfortunately I am not so sure that will happen.

They will probably get away with a community service order of x amount of hours. It is clear that this open violence against the Jewish community is of a harshness not seen in Holland for many decades. I am certain that a number of young Jewish families have now had enough of the Netherlands where they have lived for many generations and of which they thought they were an integral part.

The images of Jews being persecuted are shocking, unacceptable, criminal. I have been assured that there will be a thorough investigation. Was it an organised action and if so, by whom? Did this hunt for Jews come out of the blue or was it predictable? And what could have been done about it and how are we going to prevent this? How many Jews ended up in hospital and was there indeed a case of hostage-taking and/or kidnapping?

Let me emphasise once again that the hunt for Jews is unacceptable and cannot and may not be justified in any way. That 7 October is terrible, but… That ‘but’ is not right.

‘But’, I begin myself, but was it foreseeable? And my spontaneous answer is: ‘absolutely’.

Long before 7 October, anti-Semitism was becoming increasingly visible. October 7th was a good reason to clearly proclaim and upgrade the hatred of Jews. And when a football match is played against Jews, the floodgates of the anti-Semitic dam are opened.

I am saddened that the scapegoats are being sought in the wrong places. A pogrom was organized by the Church in the not so distant past with the full approval of the local or national government. That is not the case here. Perhaps action should have been taken differently, perhaps our government made the wrong assessments, but it is crystal clear to me that our local Amsterdam and national government cannot simply be accused of anti-Semitism. We must await the investigation and hopefully the guilty parties will be arrested with great force.

The number of hours, no, even days that I spend on interviews from England, Italy, the English BBC, Hungary and of course from Israel, has become almost countless. I am constantly answering e-mails and of course also speaking to many Dutch journalists. “Can you still walk the streets as a Jew? Be assured that you can go into hiding on our farm! When will you leave the Netherlands? Is it still responsible for Jews to stay here? Is it responsible for Jewish Americans to come to the Netherlands for a holiday? How long do you think Jews can continue to live in the Netherlands or in Europe?

People are very easily influenced and can change from people into animals just like that.

But people are also very easily influenced and a mayor or the police are more or less degraded to perpetrators.

If an Israeli rocket falls in Gaza and a building is destroyed, the Hamas Ministry of Health knows within a few minutes how many women and children are under the rubble. We must be careful that we, regular Dutch people, do not start using Hamas games and tactics. How everything went wrong after the football match is being investigated. Until the results are known, we do not yet know what exactly went wrong. But I do know one thing for sure: accusing our government of being supporters of the popular Jew-hatred is premature, incorrect and far from constructive.

But in the meantime, politics always remains politics and sometimes comparisons are made for political reasons that discolour the truth. Man bites dog, makes the front page.

Dog bites man is not mentioned at all, because that is normal and therefore not news. I have the same feeling when anti-Semitism is countered by Islamophobia. Let me look at myself for a moment. Have I ever cursed or wanted to curse a Muslim? Never! But a Muslim who shouts at me has been normal for years. When politicians place the until recently unknown word Islamophobia behind every remark about anti-Semitism, I have to think of that man who bites the dog.

But in the end, I can still go out on the street and take my daily walk. My parents did not have that privilege in the 1940s-1945, because the government was no good then!

BRUTAL ASSAULTS IN AMSTERDAM AGAINST ISRAELIS

STATEMENT BY DUTCH CHIEF RABBI BINYOMIN JACOBS, PRESIDENT OF IPOR DUTCH JEWISH COMMUNITIES PRESIDENT ELLEN VAN PRAAGH, AND EUROPEAN JEWISH ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN RABBI MENACHEM MARGOLIN

OUR MESSAGE TO DUTCH GOVERNMENT AND EUROPEAN LEADERS:

‘”Wake up! A cancer of jew hate is plaguing the continent. From here on in, it cannot be business as usual when it comes to antisemitism.”

In a statement following a series of brutal assaults against Israeli citizens last night in Amsterdam following a football match, the Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands Binyomin Jacobs, President of IPOR Jewish Communities Ellen Van Praagh and the Chairman of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin said

“We are shocked but not surprised at the disgusting scenes we saw last night in the Dutch Capital.

“This was not hooliganism. Hooliganism is a regular occurrence at football games. The heavy presence of police and security forces in Amsterdam last night attests to this. They were prepared and ready for it. Antisemitism is the only motive here.

“But what followed afterwards – these disgusting and brutal assaults, are the strongest example of the extreme antisemitism, the all-pervading Jew hatred, that is running like a cancer throughout the continent. When writers like Herman Brusselmans can say with impunity that he wants to stick a knife in the throat of every Jew he meets, this is the outcome.

“People roaming the streets in masks asking people if they were Jewish then assaulting them and throwing them into canals. This is Europe now in 2024.

“While we welcome the statements of support and outrage from the Dutch Government, and their reaching out to us, a much pro-active more approach is needed. There must be meaningful engagement with the Jewish community from the Dutch Government . We want to be heard. We need action.

“We call this hate a Cancer. It requires immediate surgery. These assaults are not an isolated incident. It is part of a much bigger picture of Jew hate since October 7th in the Netherlands, Jews cannot take public transport, they are fearful.  

“Every day, across the continent, hundreds of smaller incidents of Jew hate take place. They do not receive the public response, nor the government response they deserve.

“We say to the Dutch government and governments across Europe: wake up. It cannot be business as usual from now on when it comes to fighting antisemitism.” Ends

It is with alarm that I see UEFA does not deem the enormous ‘Free Palestine’ Banner unfurled at the Paris Saint Germain – Athletico Madrid Champions league match as, acoording to a spokesperson of your organisation as neither insulting or provocative. I suggest to you that the spokesperson in question is either visually or is deliberately ignoring the facts.

The Banner included the ‘I’ of Palestine outlined as the state of Israel but entirely covered by the Palestinian keffiyeh. In short it denies Israel’s existence, one of the most common antisemitic tropes that exist today.

The European Jewish Association, representing hundreds of Jewish Communities across the continent, is heavily engaged in the fight against antisemitism, whose levels have exploded since October 7^th , the largest pogrom against Jews anywhere since the Second World War.

Mr President, I will be blunt. If someone unfurled a huge banner with Ukraine under a Russian Flag would it be insulting or provocative? Or how about Slovenia under an Italian or Austrian Flag? You of course know the answer.

Denying Israel’s right to exist, particularly in the mouth of an ongoing war and after the largest pogrom against Jews since the Second World War is not only grossly insulting to millions of Jewish and Israeli football fans worldwide, but it is openly antisemitic and hostile.

You must act strongly today and penalise the Club. If you will not, others will feel emboldened to do likewise. Jewish communities everywhere, but especially in Europe, are already living under daily threats to their lives from the hate that these banners espouse. The banner is not a call for liberation Mr President. It is a call for Jewish eradication.

Humo is sold and read in Netherlands and therefore liable say both groups in a statement announcing the legal case.

Humo Magazine, and its writer Herman Brusselmans, already subject to ongoing legal proceedings in Belgium, are now facing the same pressures in the Netherlands after the principal body representing Dutch Jewry – the CJO together with the Brussels based EJA announced that they have started legal proceedings in Holland.

In a Humo article published in August, Herman Brusselmans wrote the following: “I see an image of a crying and screaming Palestinian boy that is crying inconsolably for his mother who lying under the rubble, and I imagine that the boy is my own son Roman, and the mother is my own girlfriend Lena, and I become so enraged that I want to ram a pointed knife straight into the throat of every Jew I meet.”

The article, despite horrified objections by Jews in Belgium, and indeed across the world, was allowed to remain on Humo pages, and in fact was only retracted under duress and acres of negative coverage. By then the damage had been done.

The legal proceedings have been launched in Holland as the magazine, written in Dutch, is readily available on newstands and in libraries across the country.

Chanan Hertzberger, the Chairman of the CJO, announcing the legal case against Brusselmans and Humo magazine, said in a statement:

“The antisemitic hate perpetuated by Brusselmans was cross-border, aided and abbetted by Humo magazine who acted as the courier to many thousands of readers in Holland.

“As such his antisemitic incitement to murder affects Dutch Jewry in the same way his incitement to murder affects Belgian Jewry. The irresponsibility and lack of Judgement at Humo – in light of the record rises in antisemitism across the continent since October the 7th – is astounding. Their reticence in pulling the piece, that should have been scrunched up and thrown in the editorial bin in the first place does not make them guardians of freedom of speech – as they would have it – but as willing accomplices. This cannot stand. And we at the CJO will not allow it to stand.”

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Chairman of the EJA, who along with partners in Belgian Jewish organisations have an ongoing case against the magazine and Brusselmans in the Belgian courts added

“The Brusselmans case is a hugely important one. It goes to the very heart of the battle against antisemitism. As a people denied a voice, or indeed representation throughout history, you will not find bigger advocates for freedom of speech than Jews. But Brusselmans and Humo exploited this freedom is the most disgusting and dangerous way, putting the lives of Jews literally in front of the writer’s pointed knife and in front of every reader he incited to do likewise either unwittingly or not.

“We must never allow hate to win and must always hold those that perpetuate it to account for their actions.”

Ends.

I never watch movies on a plane, but this time I did. A film about the war. I don’t mean the war between Russia and Ukraine. Nor am I referring to the Israel-Gaza war. No, I just mean: ‘the’ war.

The film was about Sir Nicholas Winton who saved 669 children from Prague on the eve of the war by taking them to England with the permission of their parents.

Horrible images of poverty, persecution and misery. Parents saying goodbye to their children. I knew these images would seriously disrupt my sleep and yet I continued to watch. But when I heard that the Netherlands refused to issue transit visas, I turned off the screen: this was not my Netherlands…

Having barely landed at Schiphol, I rushed to Nijkerk. The Christian Israel Centre was heavily defaced by so-called climate activists. Israel’s ambassador would address the employees in solidarity. I was also asked to encourage them. I did that, of course, while I had the feeling that this couldn’t happen in my Netherlands…

These same climate fanatics are also against Christians, against gays, against marriage, against rape (unless it happens under the supervision of Hamas), against a gay parade if Jews are included, against gender naming…

It would not surprise me that, in addition to the ban on the flag of Israel, the singing of a Yiddish mamme will no longer be permitted. They will think this is discrimination or apartheid… everything must and will be gender neutral.

Back in my Netherlands, because that’s how I felt in my naivety, I peacefully walked to synagogue on Shabbat morning. Wonderful, back home after three weeks!

But the way back was less pleasant: a car drove up next to me at walking pace and took the liberty of intimidatingly photographing my guests and me from the car. I passed the license plate number on to the police.

And in my own street I was then welcomed with a loud volley of free Palestine by the youth of the local New Dutch citizenry.

Among the loudmouths there are also two boys with a black skin colour, who I know are insulted behind their back by their fellow white ‘believers’.

Apparently, I am the common enemy, even though I was allowed to provide spiritual support to the black mother of these two black boys. I increasingly get the feeling that, after living here for at least sixteen generations, this Netherlands is no longer my Netherlands…