Dramatic Increase in Anti-Semitism in the Netherlands

Thanks to Ben for sending me this from the Netherlands.


Never forget Anne Frank.


Below is a very depressing report from the Netherlands regarding a steep increase in anti-semitic incidents in 2018, 20% above the previous year. The report also states that the extreme left in Dutch society shares responsibilty with the extreme right and even touches on the Islamic role. The study is by the Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation Israel

The report is from the Dagelijkse Standaard. Translation by Fousesquawk


https://www.dagelijksestandaard.nl/2019/03/alarmerend-antisemitisme-in-nederland-is-afgelopen-jaar-met-20-toegenomen-mede-dankzij-extreem-links/


Alarming: Anti-Semitism in the Netherlands has increased by 20% in the past year-partially thanks to the extreme left



Photo: Abou Jahjah with a Palestinian shawl in Amsterdam
Dagelijkse Standaard


That we have become a good country we have done together. The anti-semitism, which had never been gone, took a gigantic leap last year. Jews clearly see that they are less and less safe in this country, and especially in their direct surroundings. The new Monitor of Anti-semitic Incidents of the CIDI (Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israel in The Hague) speaks frightful volumes.

It is going bad for Judaism in the Netherlands. The tiny community that remains after the Second World War is being systematically driven away. That is the only conclusion you can draw if you read the CIDI Monitor of Anti-Semitic Incidents 2018, published today.

The anti-semitism group last year registered the highest number of anti-semitism reports since 2014. And in the "direct surroundings" category, it is the highest number ever recorded. In this, the CIDI gave the horrible example of a Jewish student who even had to change his class because his old class kept harassing him (because of) his Jewish background.

"For example, CIDI registered a report from a Jewish student, who gets comments in the classroom and group activities such as, "All Jews must die" and "go back to the gas chambers". The school only took action  after much insistence, and the bullying only decreased when the student (at his own request) was transferred to another class."

Much anti-semitism was also politically motivated. Under the so-called alt-right, a hostile attitude towards Jews was observed, but also on the left is anti-semitism on the rise.  We think of people like Anja Meulenbelt and Jazie Veldhuyzen (from Sylvana's BIJI party), but for example also the sometimes even Islamist gentlemen from DENK. The Monitor writes about this:

"Not only among the extreme right, but there are anti-semitic sentiments.

Many common cliches are, for example, the "Jewish capitalist", or simply "stock market Jew". These supposedly control the political elite in society through the possession of gold or disproportionate power in banking.

Conspiracy theories about "the Rothchilds, a banking dynasty of Jewish descent, often respond to this. The stereotypes are used as legitimization to turn the common people against the established order.  With the emergence of the decolonization movement, these cliches were changed so that Jews were increasingly identified with imperialists.

The political left often values equality, emancipation and anti-discrimination. However, sometimes the extreme left sees inequality mainly in terms of color and social class. Because the dominant image of Jews is often that they are white and  prosperous, they are, within the extreme-left way of thinking, often portrayed as oppressors. This way of thinking can lead to anti-semitic discourse, surely in combination with the often used implicit assumption that the left is automatically anti-racist and thus cannot be anti-semitic."

I hope that the next year will be a better year for Dutch Jews than (the one) before was. But as melancholy as it is, I have a very hard head........