Dutch PM hopeful thinks “hatred of Jews” is part of the Muslim culture
According to BBB parliamentarian Mona Keijzer, “Jew hatred is almost part of the culture” in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. The BBB’s “Prime Minister candidate” said that on the talk show Sophie & Jeroen while discussing asylum seekers from Muslim countries. A group of ten lawyers and a historian with a Muslim background have pressed charges of group insult against her.
Keijzer was discussing the new PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition’s “main lines agreement” and the stricter integration requirements they plan to impose, specifically, teaching immigrants about the Holocaust. According to Keijzer, many asylum seekers come from countries where Islam is the dominant faith. “We know that Jew hatred is almost part of the culture there,” she said.
After criticism from the other guests, including writer Arnon Grunberg, Keijzer apologized. But a parliamentarian can’t get away with statements like that so easily, lawyer Reinout Sterk told NU.nl. He and the other lawyers and historian have submitted their charges to the Public Prosecution Service (OM) in Amsterdam.
The declaration states that Keijzer “explicitly and deliberately made a distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims and contributed to the further development of anti-Muslim sentiments in society by suggesting that Muslims are (often) anti-Semitic.” She also “associated Muslims with terrorism” and “used her role as a representative of the people to legitimize that sentiment.”
According to Sterk, Muslims in the Netherlands worry that the PVV’s election win legitimizes stigmatizing statements about them and their faith. A new Cabinet hasn’t even been appointed yet, and prominent coalition politicians are already making such statements. That has to stop, and that is why they filed charges against Keijzer. As a parliamentarian, she has an additional responsibility to combat divisions and polarization in society, Sterk said.
Keijzer was previously dismissed from the Rutte III Cabinet for criticizing coronavirus restrictions. Last year, she left the CDA and joined the BBB, which presented her as its Prime Minister candidate ahead of the November elections.
