Amazon joins Dutch initiative to stop selling anti-Semitic books

Online retailer Amazon has agreed to join a Dutch government initiative to stop the sale of books featuring anti-Semitic content, according to Eddo Verdoner, the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism (NCAB). The American company is the latest retailer to join the NCAB initiative, which was launched last year.

"Selling anti-Semitic books is their livelihood for some writers," Verdoner told NU.nl in an interview published Thursday. "But hatred of Jews should never become a business model." The NCAB put out a press release about Amazon's participation on Friday morning.

Other major organizations participating include Amazon's leading Dutch competitor, Bol, as well as Audax group retailers Bruna and ReadShop, which have large webshops in addition to over 430 physical stores. Bookseller Libris is also involved, as well as library association NBD Biblion and second-hand goods website Marktplaats.

Together, they share knowledge and experiences about how to effectively combat the sale of anti-Jewish content. Selling such material is already banned in the Netherlands.

"An increasing share of book sales is online. This presents us with new challenges. That is why a new approach is needed to combat the sale of anti-Semitic content, in addition to the legal approach," Verdoner wrote in the statement.

Bol alone has already removed hundreds of books because of anti-Semitic content, according to ANP. "It is important that as many online players as possible join in. It is positive that a large international party such as Amazon is joining in and wants to use its knowledge and experience for this," Verdoner added.