Amsterdam's mayor says the violence wasn't a pogrom. Dutch Jewish leaders agree, but demand protection

The CJN Daily with Ellin Bessner

On Nov. 7, mobs of Dutch soccer fans rampaged through central Amsterdam beating up Israeli and Jewish tourists there to see the Maccabi Tel Aviv team play. The outbreak of violence happened on the eve of the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when organized gangs of Nazi soldiers in Germany and occupied Austria targeted Jewish businesses, torched synagogues and sent 20,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. Video of the Dutch attacks prompted some world leaders to describe the night as a “pogrom”. In hindsight, however, the mayor of Amsterdam is now backtracking on using the word “pogrom”, saying the word has been weaponized to score political points. And while her comments have angered many Jewish leaders in the Netherlands, at least two of them agree that the horrific comparison is an overstatement. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, you’ll hear why. Dave Heilbron, the Dutch-Canadian leader of a pro-Israel lobby organization based in Amsterdam, and Annet Betsalel, a Dutch filmmaker and Holocaust educator in the small town of Bussum, both join the show to discuss what Jewish life in the Netherlands has been like over the past couple of weeks. They say while calling the attacks a pogrom may be exaggeration, Dutch Jews are still nervous about more antisemitic attacks, costly security bills and rising anti-Jewish hatred across the political spectrum in Europe.

Related links

• Read why soccer hooliganism in Europe has disturbing antisemitic chants and symbols, in The CJN.
• Learn more about Anne Betsalel’s work on the rescue of Canada’s Veffer family in the Netherlands during the Holocaust, on The CJN Daily.
• Why a new Canadian book about who betrayed Anne Frank has outraged Dutch Jews, in The CJN from 2022.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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