Top Dutch politician: Jews should emigrate to Israel or U.S.

[Behind the Aegis]

A prominent Dutch politician sparked a heated debate in the Netherlands this week by saying practicing Jews had “no future here, and should emigrate to the U.S. or Israel.”

The statement made by Frits Bolkestein, former European Commissioner and ex-leader of Holland's ruling rightist VVD party, was published in the recently released book Het Verval (The Decline), written by Manfred Gerstenfeld, a Netherlands-raised Holocaust survivor and senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Bolkstein backed up his statement by saying that the increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands over the past decade had led him to have limited confidence in the ability of the government to fight anti-Semitism.

Bolkstein came under fire for his comment, including from members of the three-party coalition led by his own faction. Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-Islam Party for Freedom, reacted by saying that “not Jews should emigrate, but anti-Semitic Moroccans.”

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[sakabatou]

1. Where's my clue-by-four?

[pam4water]

2. Idiot.

[aquart]

3. Oh, Europe's just being Europe.

Anti-semitic to their murderous bones.

But it's not like Jews are the only ones they hate.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Europe as a whole? There's no such thing.

Europe is made up of a huge number of different countries with very varied views and attitudes - and even within each country.

There are plenty of vicious bigots in American politics if it comes to that. And with regard to antisemitism in particular, surveys suggest that the UK at any rate is no more antisemitic than America. Some Europaean countries such as Poland *are* more antisemitic than America. I don't know what the rate of antisemitism is in the Netherlands. I do know that they have some well-known bigoted politicians at the moment (both antisemites and Islamophobes.)

Europe does suffer from pronounced anti-immigrant bigotry - but again it's not everywhere and everyone.

Xenophobic bigotry, including antisemitism, racism, Islamophobia and anti-immigrant hate, is a problem EVERYWHERE and needs to be fought everywhere.

[LeftishBrit]

4. Ugggh

Bolkestein and Wilders sound like two peas in a pod: nasty bigots, just against different groups. No wonder they're in coalition.

One point: Bolkestein is not currently a 'top politician'; he has retired. Probably still has too much influence, however.