Would you stop bank robberies by closing down banks? And would you stop public transport fare evasion by shutting down all public transport? Of course you wouldn’t. For doing so is punishing the victim. But punishing the victim doesn’t bother Frederick (‘Frits’) Bolkestein (pictured) [1]. Bolkestein, now 77 years old, is a retired Dutch politician. He was a member of the Dutch Parliament 1977-98, in 1990-8 he was the leader of the right-wing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) [2], and in 1999-2004 he was a Member of the European Commission. He’s known for his outspoken, right-wing views. Last week, Bolkestein was quoted in a Dutch magazine saying Jews (i.e. Jews who look like Jews) have no future in the Netherlands, so they should emigrate to the US or Israel [3]. Why? For their own safety due to the anti-Semitism of Dutch Moroccans. He added that the many Arab television channels in the Netherlands contribute to the spread of anti-Semitism. And he has no confidence in proposed measures to combat anti-Semitism. A classic case of punishing the victim, Mr Bolkestein. Which is all too easy to do if the victim’s a Jew, eh Frits. Your stance’s short-sighted appeasement. And if Holland enforces it, she’ll regret it. Big time.
P.S. Current Dutch politician (and VVD defector [4]) Geert Wilders, visiting Israel last week, responded that ‘Jews shouldn’t emigrate, anti-Semitic Moroccans should’.
1 comment:
I met a woman on a beach in Mexico, who told me that the world would be fine if we just sent the Jews all to Israel; I asked her which eighth of me I should send. She found that a difficult question, I asked her to let me know when she decided.
Post a Comment