FRIDAY, 24
MAY 2024 - 12:00
https://nltimes.nl/2024/05/24/dutch-pm-hopeful-thinks-hatred-jews-part-muslim-culture
Dutch PM hopeful thinks “hatred of Jews” is part
of the Muslim culture
According
to BBB parliamentarian Mona Keijzer, “Jew hatred is almost part of the culture”
in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. The BBB’s “Prime Minister
candidate” said that on the talk show Sophie & Jeroen while discussing
asylum seekers from Muslim countries. A group of ten lawyers and a historian
with a Muslim background have pressed charges of group insult against her.
Keijzer was
discussing the new PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition’s “main lines agreement”
and the stricter integration requirements they plan to impose, specifically,
teaching immigrants about the Holocaust. According to Keijzer, many asylum
seekers come from countries where Islam is the dominant faith. “We know that
Jew hatred is almost part of the culture there,” she said.
After
criticism from the other guests, including writer Arnon Grunberg, Keijzer
apologized. But a parliamentarian can’t get away with statements like that so
easily, lawyer Reinout Sterk told NU.nl. He and the other lawyers and historian
have submitted their charges to the Public Prosecution Service (OM) in
Amsterdam.
The
declaration states that Keijzer “explicitly and deliberately made a distinction
between Muslims and non-Muslims and contributed to the further development of
anti-Muslim sentiments in society by suggesting that Muslims are (often)
anti-Semitic.” She also “associated Muslims with terrorism” and “used her role
as a representative of the people to legitimize that sentiment.”
According
to Sterk, Muslims in the Netherlands worry that the PVV’s election win
legitimizes stigmatizing statements about them and their faith. A new Cabinet
hasn’t even been appointed yet, and prominent coalition politicians are already
making such statements. That has to stop, and that is why they filed charges
against Keijzer. As a parliamentarian, she has an additional responsibility to
combat divisions and polarization in society, Sterk said.
Keijzer was
previously dismissed from the Rutte III Cabinet for criticizing coronavirus
restrictions. Last year, she left the CDA and joined the BBB, which presented
her as its Prime Minister candidate ahead of the November elections.
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