Racism

Higher education students in Rotterdam were accused on Friday of sharing disturbing images and statements in chat groups, including material which was racist, anti-Semitic, and sexually offensive or harassing. The Hogeschool Rotterdam (HR) said the chat messages were shared in several education-related groups connected to the college and to the Erasmus University.

“We are very shocked by the cross-border nature of the messages,” said HR board chair Ron Bormans. “This behavior completely contravenes our norms and values ​​and is not tolerated by our applied sciences university.”

The number of anti-Semitic incidents reported to the Netherlands' information and documentation center on Israel CIDI last year increased by a massive 35 percent compared to the year before. CIDI received 182 reports of discrimination against Jewish people - the highest number since the center started keeping track 30 years ago, NOS reports.

FvD leader Thierry Baudet said that he was "too quick, and too firm" with posts on social media on Friday, in which he said that "Moroccans" were harassing two female passengers on a train. The "Moroccans" turned out to be NS employees and a police officer in civilian clothing, checking the two women's tickets. The police are looking into whether they will press charges against the populist politician, a spokesperson for the National Unit said to RTL Nieuws.

Anti-racism action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet will protest throughout the year against the presence of blackface Zwarte Piet in the annual Sinterklaas celebrations this year. The group is planning actions every quarter, was decided at a meeting in the Willem Twee showroom in Den Bosch on Monday, RTL Nieuws reports.

Dutch football association KNVB and the government are finalizing the measures they are taking to fight racism in football stadiums, and will likely present them next week, newspaper AD reports. Their measures include more cameras and a football app to report abuses, among other things.

Football club Telstar released a statement on Wednesday, distancing itself from the behavior of its fans in a cup match against Ajax. During the match, fans shouted racist slurs at Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, NU.nl reports.

Several people said on social media that spectators shouted "banana" at Onana, among other things. During the match Telstar said that it took note of events. The club released a statement afterwards.

This morning parents across the Netherlands will be bringing their kids to school to celebrate Sinterklaas, Packjesavond and the saint's imminent return to Spain. Foundation Nederland Wordt Beter is calling on parents to keep their children at home if their school's party still features blackface Zwarte Piet.

Two incidents of football supporters shouting racist remarks at players this weekend left Prime Minister Mark Rutte furious. In both cases black players were either called or linked to Zwarte Piet - a blackface character from the Netherlands' Sinterklaas celebration. "It makes you hopeless, doesn't it", Rutte said on Monday, RTL Nieuws reports. "This society cannot go further if we treat each other this way."

Two Oranje players made a powerful statement against racism in the match against Estonia (5-0) in Amsterdam on Tuesday. After captain Georginio Wijnaldum scored his first of three goals, he and Frenkie de Jong stopped to pose with their arms against each other, to show that they are different but they are one. 

“Downright disgusting”, is what Dutch football association KNVB called racist chants by FC Den Bosch fans directed at Excelsior player Ahmad Mendes Moreira on Sunday. “This does not belong on a football field”, Jan Bluyssen, KNVB’s competition affairs manager, said to NOS.

On Sunday referee Laurens Gerrets had to stop a match between FC Den Bosch and Excelsior for ten minutes, due to FC Den Bosch fans’ behavior. Songs about Zwarte Piet and monkey chanting were heard from the fanatic M-side every time Moreira had the ball, according to the broadcaster.

Posters featuring anti-discrimination activist Jerry Afriyie as Zwarte Piet were plastered all over Den Haag late Friday night and early Saturday morning. The posters use a digitally-manipulated portrait of Afriyie, turning him into the racist caricature he has led a charge against for years.

Hundreds of posters were affixed along the parade route for the arrival of Sinterklaas in Den Haag. They were glued to storefronts and boats in the harbor, according to broadcaster Omroep West.