New measures to tackle antisemitism
Since the war in Gaza, antisemitism has been on the rise in the Netherlands. Last week, the cabinet presented measures to tackle this. Marloes van Noorloos, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, appeared on Dutch news programme ‘EenVandaag’ to speak about antisemitism as a punishable crime.
The Cabinet is proposing a task force to combat antisemitism in the Netherlands. It is making 1.3 million euros available to protect Jewish institutions and a number of measures will be considered. For instance, banning organisations that call for the destruction of Israel and revoking Dutch citizenship for antisemitic crimes. Finally, a task force will take a critical look at antisemitic speakers at educational institutions and demonstrations.
An investigation conducted by EenVandaag shows that in criminal law, antisemetism is not a separate offence. However, according to Marloes van Noorloos, some antisemitic expressions, such as group insult or incitement to hatred and discrimination, may be grounds for prosecution: 'Criticism of Israel or anti-Zionist expressions do not fall under this. They are considered political criticism.’ The associate professor emphasises that a person’s intent is important, though this is often hard to distinguish: ‘It was ruled in court that replacing the Star of David on an Israeli flag with a cockroach does constitute antisemitism and group insult. In that case, it’s no longer about the state of Israel, but about the symbol for Judaism and dehumanisation. By contrast, burning a flag in a general sense does not fall under group insult and is therefore not currently punishable.’
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Watch the full Nieuwsuur item (in Dutch)
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