Deputy PM: End "careless" anti-Semitism at football matches

Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher called for an end to the derogatory use of the word “Jew” with regard to fans of Amsterdam football club Ajax. Many of the team’s fans often refer to themselves as “The Jews,” even though the club has no historical association with Jewish organizations or Jewish athletes. In response, rival fans often chant anti-Semitic slogans and sing jingles about the Holocaust. “I find the apparently careless use of the word ‘Jew’ as a swearword, and in the dynamic of the football stadium, undesirable,” he wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. Asscher, also the Minister of Social Affairs, remarked in reference to a study on both anti-semitism and Anti-Israeli sentiment among the Muslim community in the Netherlands. The study, leaked by newspaper De Telegraaf, was undertaken by the Verwey-Jonker Instituut at the ministry’s behest It was scheduled for publication in May, but still was not released publicly. The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), a Dutch pro-Israel organization, denounced the survey on Monday, saying it was “scientifically irresponsible.” In it, an unknown number of youth identifying as either Christian, Muslim, Believer of Another Faith, or Non-Believer were surveyed about their feelings towards “Jews in the Netherlands,” “Jews in Israel,” “The State of Israel,” and “Zionists.” Respondents were asked to identify if they felt “positive,” “neutral,” or “not so positive” to each group. Twelve percent of Muslim participants said they felt “not so positive” towards Dutch Jews, and 40 percent said the same about Jews in Israel. About 62 percent felt that way about the Israeli state, and 66 percent said the same about Zionists. Turkish youth were more likely to have a negative opinion towards Dutch Jews than Moroccans, the Telegraaf said. CIDI specifically called out the Verwey-Jonker Instituut for not taking into consideration that many youths use the words “Zionist” and “Jew” interchangeably, and likewise confuse “Jews in Israel” and “State of Israel.” “Therefore, the leaked figures released from the study do not show a good indication of the true level of anti-Semitism in the Netherlands,” CIDI wrote on Monday. “These figures are unsuitable for creating sound policies to combat anti-Semitism.”