Right-Wing Dutch Lawmaker Geert Wilders Wants Perpetrators of Antisemitic Attacks at Amsterdam Deported

Members of the Dutch parliament engaged in a heated debate on Wednesday over how best to respond to the antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans that exploded across Amsterdam last week. The leader of the Netherlands right-wing party, Geert Wilders, called on his fellow lawmakers to deport those convicted of participating in the attacks who hold dual citizenship, citing that most of them were Muslim Moroccans who “wanted to destroy Jews.” He also called for them to be prosecuted for terrorism, according to reporting from Agence France Presse. “For the first time since the Second World War there was a hunt on Jews,” Mr. Wilders said during the meeting, adding, “I am sick of being criticized when I tell the truth.”His approach was condemned by other lawmakers at The Hague who claimed that he was “adding fuel to the fire.” The leader of the left-wing opposition party, Frans Timmermans, responded to Mr. Wilders by telling him that he was “simply stoking the fires while this country has a need for politicians to unite people and find solutions.”The attack, which began on Thursday night after a soccer match between Tel Aviv’s Maccabi team and the local team Ajax, left 25 to 35 people injured and at least five hospitalized. Videos of the attacks show men in ski masks chasing and beating Israelis in the streets of the Dutch capital, leading many members of the Jewish community to decry the attacks as a “pogrom.” The prime minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, described the events as displays of “unadulterated antisemitism.” As the extent of the violence became known, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, directed Israeli airliner El Al to launch rescue flights to the Netherlands. By the end of the weekend, around 2,000 Israelis had been flown back to Israel. It was later reported that the attacks were organized in part on social media platforms Telegram and Whatsapp, with users calling for a Jodenjacht, or “Jew hunt.” Several Maccabi fans told the Wall Street Journal that they had been stalked and harassed in the days leading up to the match. Over 60 individuals had been arrested both before and after the soccer match, on suspicion of public acts of violence, vandalism and disturbing public order, according to Dutch authorities. Eight people remain in custody. Last week’s violence prompted the French government to classify an upcoming soccer match with Israel as a “high-risk” event and offer additional security protections. The game, which is set to take place on Thursday, will be monitored by 4,000 security personnel both in and around the stadium, according to Paris security chief Laurent Nuñez. Meanwhile, the right-wing Dutch government has been making moves to tighten immigration controls, announcing on Monday plans to beef up land border checks to curb irregular migration. The effort, which mirrors a similar measure taken by Germany in September, comes as the European public has adopted increasingly negative views of migrants.

Right-Wing Dutch Lawmaker Geert Wilders Wants Perpetrators of Antisemitic Attacks at Amsterdam Deported

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