Dutch PM addresses violence against Jews at Kristallnacht service, not Red Line Protest

The 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht was commemorated in Amsterdam on Monday evening. Prime Minister Rob Jetten gave a speech, denouncing the rising anti-Semitism in the Netherlands. "The lesson of history is that violence against Jews is never far away," Jetten said in the first speech by a Dutch Prime Minister at a Kristallnacht commemoration in ten years. He did not mention the Red Line protest that happened in the Dutch capital the day before.

During the night of November 9 to 10, 1938, Nazis in Germany destroyed Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues, and persecuted Jewish people. The name Kristallnacht, which translates to Crystal Night, comes from the shattered glass that littered the streets.

Jetten said that the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, serves as “the ultimate proof” that violence against Jewish people remains a constant, ever-present threat, ANP reported. He also noted that anti-Jewish sentiment is flaring up in the Netherlands, fueled by societal divisions. The Prime Minister stressed that there is “no excuse whatsoever” for threats or violence against Jewish people or institutions.

Jetten emphasized his intention for Jewish life to remain a “visible and inseparable” part of Dutch society. He said he has placed a Mezuzah, a Jewish prayer container, at his own front door, “to show that I want to be the Prime Minister of a country where Jewish life is visible.”

Unlike Jetten, who didn’t mention the Red Line protest, Chanan Hertzberger, chair of the Central Jewish Board (CJO), made the protest against the Dutch government’s policy toward Israel a big part of his speech, NOS reported.

The organizers of the protest say that the Dutch government is normalizing violations of international law by continuing to cooperate with Israel while it perpetrates genocide on Palestinians in Gaza. At the demonstration, attended by around 200,000 people, they demand that the Netherlands halt military cooperation with Israel, among other things.

In his speech on Monday, Hertzberger thanked Jetten for not yielding “to the demands of the organizers of the anti-Israel demonstration,” which, he says, “amount, directly or indirectly, to wiping Israel off the map.”

Hertzberger said that it was “to be expected that the extremes of the political spectrum would embrace the ‘genocide lie,’” adding that it was up to a court of law to determine whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. “Not protesters full of hatred. Not politicians. Not journalists.”

“Jews are being held collectively responsible,” Hertzberger said. "Who is being confronted about this so-called genocide in Arnhem, in Groningen, in Amsterdam? We are. The Jews. In our own city. On our own streets. In our children’s classrooms. We are being ostracized and pushed to the margins of society."

Hertzberger also emphasized the significance of the Prime Minister’s presence at the Kristallnacht commemoration. “Especially now that Jewish life in the Netherlands is coming under ever-greater pressure.”