Dutch Jewish community leader: Amsterdam Jews not responsible for Middle East war

The Jerusalem Post Podcast with Tamar Uriel-Beeri and Sarah Ben-Nun.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF NOVEMBER 14, 2024 19:47

Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police while taking part in a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 10, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Anthony Deutsch)

The Amsterdam Jewish community should not be held responsible for a war in the Middle East, Dutch Jewish community leader Hans Veyul told Tamar Uriel-Beeri and Sarah Ben-Nun on The Jerusalem Post Podcast following the antisemitic pogrom on November 7.

Veyul is the vice chair of the Centraal Joods Overget (CJO), the Central Jewish Consultation in English, which is a centralized group of Jewish organizations that intends to represent the interests of the Jewish community in the Netherlands. He explained the general reaction the community has felt from the Dutch public.

"People hated it," Veyul said of the pogrom. "They said we lost enough Jews during the Shoah [Holocaust]," referencing how Amsterdam lost 80% of its Jewish community to the Nazis. 

"People stood beside us and supported us," he continued. "But in the Muslim community, they said 'Of course, it's very bad, but... nobody talks about the 52,000 Gazans who died after the IDF rooted them out, or the genocide, etc.'"

This "but," as Veyul refers to it, is the major battle Dutch Jewry is fighting against.

A person is detained by the police as Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (credit: Michel Van Bergen/via REUTERS)

"Our position of the Centraal Joods Overget as the official representatives of the Jewish community of Holland was always, 'We are not talking and never talk about what Israel is doing,'" he explained. "We don't think that Jews in Holland can be responsible for what's happening in the Middle East. We don't want to import the Middle East war to Amsterdam and to the rest of the cities."

Tensions between Amsterdam Jews and Muslims

Veyul noted that most Dutch Jews and Muslims live in Amsterdam. The two communities didn't have many issues until the war started. However, conflicts in the Middle East end up raising tensions.

Whenever a new war in the Middle East starts, the Muslim and Jewish community leaders would call each other and say that Muslims are not responsible for the actions of those attacking Israel, and Jews are not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. 

"But after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, I didn't hear a peep from the Muslims," Veyul said.

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Sicne then, Veyul explained, relations are deteriorating, and the Jewish community is less open to its Muslim neighbors.

"People are getting more afraid, other people are getting more aggressive and anti-Muslim as a community," he said, adding, "The government has even brought more police to synagogues, more police to to Jewish schools, because people are afraid."

Israeli government aid has not been felt

The Israeli government made headlines with their announcement of sending emergency evacuation flights to the Netherlands due to the Amsterdam pogrom. However, according to Veyul, their presence was not felt on the ground.

"We took care of it ourselves," he said, pointing to the efforts of Maccabi in protecting the Jews.

"They found a hotel Israelis could go to," he said. "A lot of Jewish youngsters got in their car because the Israelis didn't trust - and rightly so - the taxis in Holland anymore."

These cars helped save Israeli tourists and brought them to the hotel, which the Jewish community rented out. The Israeli government did send planes, but that was more a political move, and Dutch planes could also have easily been used, Veyul said.

Despite this, the CJO vice chair noted that it was still good that Israel exists to help save Jews. 

"We could have managed without them, but it's good we have Israel," he said.