It's come to this: Dutch government worried about terrorists'violent Jewish settlers'
The Dutch government is warning its citizens who travel in Judea and Samaria to be wary of 'Palestinian' terrorism 'violent Jewish settlers.'
The travel warning was placed online last month on the website of the Dutch central government for the Palestinian Territories.
“There are security risks for traveling all over the West Bank
including east Jerusalem,” the warning reads. “Be alert when traveling
there. Demonstrations and violent incidents occur regularly. Jewish
colonists live in illegal West Bank settlements and organize
demonstrations regularly around and on the road. These colonists are
sometimes violent. At times, these colonists throw stones at
Palestinians and international vehicles so be alert when traveling
around settlements of Jewish colonists, especially in the hills around
Nablus and Hebron.”
In referencing violence by Palestinians, the text states:
“Palestinians demonstrate regularly against occupation in various
places,” adding that “these demonstrations sometimes involve violence.
There are always Israeli soldiers present during demonstrations. Avoid
demonstrations. Recently, there have been violent incidents in the
border area between east and west Jerusalem. They are aimed at Israelis.
Be alert in those areas and avoid public transportation.”
The warning also applies to the Gaza Strip, where Dutch nationals are
advised not to go due to risk of being shot in fights between various
Islamist groups. “In addition, there exists a risk of becoming a victim
of an Israeli aerial attack,” the warning adds.
Trying to recall the last time anyone died as a result of 'violentJewishsettlers' throwing stones. (Hint: There haven't been any).
Student who taped Dutch students praising Hitler forced into hiding
Remember the video I posted on Tuesday of the Dutch students praising Hitler? The Dutch doctoral student who made it has been forced into hiding.
The Dutch daily NRC writes that Mehmet Sahin has gone into hiding with his family on the advice of the mayor of Arnhem, Pauline Krikke.
...
Dutch Labor Party parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch said that he will
ask parliamentary questions about the threats. He remarked: “It is
horrible that someone has to be afraid because he has done something
that we all should do – teach children not to hate.”
The video appeared on Nederland 2 TV, and went mostly unnoticed until
several media outlets (including this one) brought it to the attention
of leading Jewish organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center,
which sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte about the issue.
International anti-Semitism expert Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld told Arutz Sheva that the ignorance and hate should come as no surprise and that Dutch authorities have done little to counter it.
“In the future, the major international Jewish organizations will
have to intervene more as environments get more hostile. That is true
as well for other small European Jewish communities. This has already
happened, for instance, in Sweden, Norway and Hungary. Denmark is
probably the next candidate, due to Arab aggression against Jews there,”
he said.
On Wednesday, I reported on an anti-Semitic game being marketed by Dutch state television. That game was quickly removed this week, after it had been sold for a year and a half.
According to a VPRO statement, “In November 2010, the VPRO platform for younger viewers, Dorst, published on the website and in the TV guide a satirical item, The Settlers of the West Bank, a commentary over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shaped in the form of a well-known board game, The Settlers of Catan... The Settlers of the West Bank is now, almost one year and half years later, the subject of discussion on whether it contains elements of an anti- Semitic nature... The VPRO finds the political question relevant and will obligingly discuss the borders of satire.
But it has no desire or need to discuss alleged anti-Semitism through this item.
Therefore, the VPRO took off the game The Settlers of the West Bank from the Dorst site.”
Ronny Naftaniel, the head of The Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, told the Post, “This game had to be removed immediately when the first complaints about it were made. The game is based on biases and is unacceptable for Dutch Jews and all Dutchmen. It’s just a shame that VPRO is removing it after The Jerusalem Post wrote about it. VPRO should have done it by themselves.”
In an email to the Post, Benjamin Teuber, the director of marketing and business development for the Catan board game company, wrote, “The Catan company, which is the licensed operator of The Settlers of Catan, was not informed about this project and if we were, we would not have issued approval. We expressly distance ourselves from its content.”
He added that the game crossed over the border of respectable satire, and that “it is regrettable that the Catan brand, which stands for cooperation and peacefulness, was misused for such purposes.”
The game is now gone. And of course, now, no one knows how it got there in the first place, so new games (not literally maybe, but other new anti-Semitic products) will continue to come to market because no one is punished for introducing them.
Dutch state television marketing anti-Semitic game
Dutch state television is marketing a downloadable game since last month, which features an Anne Frank card, which allows players to 'colonize' the 'West Bank,' and a Jewish stinginess card that allows players to gain resources.
A VPRO representative said the game was not anti-Semitic, but rather a thought-provoking satire.
The game, titled “The Settlers of the West Bank,” is based on the multiplayer hit “The Settlers of Catan,” first released in Germany in 1995. The Dutch variant appeared in 2010 on the VPRO website – a self-described liberal-Protestant network.
In the game, the user is a settler trying to expand his community and mine diamonds and Dead Sea mud while producing textile and bulldozers. Players can use the “Jewish stinginess” card to force competitors to hand over resources. The instructions refer three times to the “nation’s typical mercantile spirit.”
Terrorist attacks are described as a natural result of settlement expansion. “Saw wood, and you get wood chips: Not everyone’s happy with the Israeli settlements. Least of all the terrorist,” the instructions explain. “Terrorist attacks” cost players resources.
The settler may also use the “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad card” to avoid losing resources to a terrorist and simultaneously draw resources from other players. The Anne Frank House is a “winning point” for the settler.
The game first appeared on VPRO’s website for younger viewers and was prominently reposted last month. The network explained the reposting by saying: “It’s one of the items everyone loves to hate.”
But wait - it gets worse. Look what 'our' side is saying:
“Criticism of the settlement movement cannot appear in the form of anti-Semitic stereotypes,” said Joël Serphos, chairman of the Dutch youth organization CiJO – For Israel, for Peace. Serphos added that this “gave the wrong impression, that criticism on settlements is rooted in anti-Semitism.”
Why would anyone think it isn't rooted in anti-Semitism? The 'Palestinians' don't distinguish. They label Haifa and Jaffe and Acre and Tel Aviv 'settlements' just as much as Ofra, Shilo and Beit El. It's not the dismemberment of the 'settlements' that they are seeking - it's the extirpation of the Jewish state.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science provided 89 percent of VPRO’s budget of 51,973,000 euros in 2010.
“This funding makes the Netherlands the largest financier of hate incitement among youth in Europe,” Samuels said.
It sounds like there may be a lot more Jews from Holland arriving here soon. But it seems that Mrs. Evers will have to move here for her children to move here. Is she up to moving?
Here's some rather disturbing video from an anti-Israel demonstration that took place in Amsterdam on January 3, 2009, at the height of Operation Cast Lead.
In the news feed on Monday night I mentioned the controversy caused by the former VVD leader Frits Bolkestein, who remarked that Jews should leave the Netherlands because of increasing anti-Semitism. The two articles I included in the feed were brief items from English-language sources.
Our Flemish correspondent VH has compiled a much more extensive report based on his translations from the Dutch-language media. He includes this note:
What is not mentioned in the responses to Bolkestein is that the left wing is once again becoming ever more openly anti-Semitic, and justifies — or maybe even fuels — the anti-Semitism that is already present among the Muslim immigrants.
By the way, the references are mostly to people who are visually identifiable as Jews, i.e. to Orthodox Jews. The Dutch sound like the first anti-Semites to know the difference.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
