World Jewish News

Jewish group in the Netherlands complains about calls to kill Jews during a pro-Palestinian rally

The Centraal Joods Overleg or Central Jewish Board, the representative organisation of the Dutch Jewish community, has complained about an incident during a pro-Palestinian rally in Rotterdam that saw protesters call for the killing of Jews.

The incident took on July 22 at a rally organized by the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands and the local branch of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.

Participants in the rally shouted in Arabic anti-Semitic slogans such as “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.”

The cry relates to an event in the seventh century when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, located in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

Nazi salutes were repeatedly used by participants who carried white and black jihad flags.

‘’This is unacceptable because this represents incitement to racist violence, ‘’ says the Central Jewish Board in a statement. The organization will take contact with the authorities over the incident.

Pro-Israel advocacy group Centrum Informatie and Documentatie Israel (CIDI) has called on the government and mayors to no longer tolerate anti-Semitism during demonstrations.

The Central Jewish Board has called for the Netherlands to adopt a working definition of anti-Semitism promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). That definition describes the denial of Jewish national self-determination as a form of anti-Semitism.

Dutch Justice Minister Stef Blok said in reply to a parliamentary question on whether the Netherlands would adopt the definition that while it supported the definition’s adoption as a nonbinding working reference by IHRA, “currently the cabinet sees no added value in the adoption of a legally binding international definition because definitions have varying applications in different justice systems.”

EJP