Double standard
Peter Breedveld
Last fall the PVV, a Dutch anti-immigrant party currently working with a range of far-right, anti-Semitic parties in the European parliament, organized a demonstration at which the flag of the Dutch Nazi party NSB was waved and people gave the Nazi-salute. Many representatives of the extreme right movement were present.
Nothing much was made of it in the press. The fact that MP’s representing the PVV had a pin in the shape of said NSB flag attached to their lapels raised some eyebrows, but the incident was soon forgotten.
Anti-Semitic affair
But last Saturday some people carried a sign equaling the Israeli flag to the swastika at a rally against the Israeli attack on Gaza and ever since the media, politicians and lobby clubs have been spitting fire. The individuals carrying the signs were immediately summoned by the police to put them away, but to no avail. The whole demonstration with thousands of partakers is now being dismissed as an anti-Semitic affair.
Some media maintain that ‘Nazi flags’ and flags of ‘terrorist organisations’ were carried but that is an outright lie. It appears some people carried a black flag with the shahada written in Arabic, the Islamic profession of faith in God and the prophet Muhammad.
Turning a blind eye
One of the biggest loudmouths in affairs like these is Esther Voet, chairwoman of CIDI, the Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel. Voet is always amongst the first ones to declare a demonstration anti-Semitic, whether the demonstration is against racism, like last March, or against Israel’s politics regarding the occupied territories. Voet enjoys accusing people of anti-Semitism, especially when they are of Moroccan or Turkish descent, as many immigrants in Holland are. CIDI flirted with the PVV for a long time, until the PVV’s affiliation with political parties like the French Front National and the Austrian FPÖ gave Voet no other choice than to condemn its cooperation with certified anti-Semites.
But still Voet has a habit of turning a blind eye to the blunt anti-Semitism of white, rightwing conservatives. She is mainly interested in anti-Semitism in Islamic circles and will not hesitate to falsify evidence to make someone look anti-Semitic. She tried doing so by mutilating a tweet by Dutch-Moroccan historian Nadia Bouras, for instance.
True colors
Last Saturday she tried to implicate Dutch-Moroccan Fatima Elatik, a retired politician, in the swastika hassle at the demonstration. Elatik, who as administrator of the city of Amsterdam made many endeavours in the struggle against anti-Semitism and promoted mutual understanding between Jews and other minorities in her city, put a photograph of herself at the demonstration on Facebook and was immediately accused of anti-Semitism by Voet. Elatik was showing her ‘true colors’, Voet tweeted. To the populist De Telegraaf, The Netherlands’ biggest newspaper, Voet said about Elatik that ‘The Jewish community is losing all its reasonable interlocutors.’
But Elatik knew nothing about any Nazi flag and was just there to show her solidarity with the victims of the Israeli bombs. Voets accusations, which have been picked up by the Israeli press, have deeply hurt Elatik and she threatens to write an exposé about the ’true colors’ of CIDI.
Muslim background
According to Elatik, CIDI handles a double standard under the chairwomanship of Esther Voet who succeeded former chairman Ronny Naftaniel (who, it must be said, started to accuse Elatik even sooner than Voet did). ‘Only politicians with a Muslim background have to answer for the misbehavior of others, she tweeted. ‘Carrying Nazi flags at a PVV demonstration is apparently no problem.’
In the meantime supporters of Voet and the Israeli cause revel in the excessive use of Nazi comparisons and demonizations without Voet or anyone else from CIDI condemning this. Someone on Twitter, mentioning Voet, called Elatik a cancer.
Racist blogger
Voet has never distanced herself from the gross abuse of her supporters. On the contrary, she uses them to spread hate against anyone criticizing Israel or CIDI. When one of her supporters, a racist blogger who advocated genocide on Afghan Muslims and admired Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik (who killed eighty children in 2011 to make his point about the Islamization of Europe) died in a traffic accident last summer, Voet deplored the loss his death meant for the debate in Holland.
I find it pretty amazing that CIDI, which was a very respectable lobby organization for Israel, chose to appoint someone like Voet as its chairwoman. If anyone is responsible for CIDI losing its reasonable interlocutors, I would say it’s Voet with her belligerent, bullying, ruthless streetfighter approach.
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English, Peter Breedveld, 15.07.2014 @ 08:18
23 Reacties
op 15 07 2014 at 08:56 schreef Natasha Gerson:
Streetfighter approach? I think that’s far too complementary for the actions of Voet. She lives in a bubble of indignation. Her criteria are isolatary, her actions are sneaky and quite often stupid and counterproductive. This is a woman who files complaints over a spoof quiz in the Dutch equivalent of the Onion “which nazi are you”.
op 15 07 2014 at 08:59 schreef Natasha Gerson:
Anyway, Voet managed to mislead Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/1.604813
op 15 07 2014 at 09:33 schreef Likoed Nederland:
Knap hoor, Jodenhaters wapperen met hakenkruisen, en het CIDI krijgt de schuld.
op 15 07 2014 at 10:01 schreef Bart:
@ Likoed Nederland.
Ga die column eens goed lezen, kleuter.
op 15 07 2014 at 10:25 schreef Sasha Berkman:
Likoed: de zionisten worden vergeleken met de nazis. Ben je uberhaupt geintereseert in de feiten? het lijkt erop alsof je de officiele israelische haatpropaganda loopt te herhalen.
op 15 07 2014 at 10:40 schreef MNb:
“and will not hesitate to falsify evidence”
Correction: you mean “to forge” or “to make up”. To falsify means “to refute” – see Popper’s falsification principle. That’s basically the opposite.
“she threatens to write an exposé about the ‘true colors’ of CIDI. ”
She should do so.
op 15 07 2014 at 10:53 schreef Daphne:
There were no flags with swastika’s present at the demonstration, Likud Nederland. Unlike at the demonstrations of your political friends, the PVV, Front National and FPO.
op 15 07 2014 at 10:57 schreef Nico:
Hmz, dacht toch echt dat een zwarte vlag met de witte shahada de jihad-vlag was?
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlag_van_de_Jihad
En is het Muiderslot nu ook een NSB-bolwerk? Daar wappert immers ook ranje-blanje-bleu?
http://www.muiderslot.nl/sites/default/files/Mike%20Bink-Slot%20-%20klein.jpg
op 15 07 2014 at 10:58 schreef Peter:
Yo, MNb: http://definitions.uslegal.com/f/falsified-evidence/
op 15 07 2014 at 11:13 schreef E.L. Luitsz:
Misschien dat je er met een hakenkruis toch niet ver naast zit.
“Unfortunately, many prominent Americans have supported the fascist movement led by Begin and his disciples, who now firmly control Israel.”
Albert Einstein in 1948 in The New York Times.
Menachem Begin was de oprichter van de Heroet-partij die de basis zou vormen voor de huidige Likoed-partij van Netanyahu.
op 15 07 2014 at 11:22 schreef Probeertesnappen:
English.. I forgot. Rebound.
Good article. Too bad it has to be said.
I was checking facts after the first outrage, because I initially didn’t get it. Was this fact manipulation really being used and accepted? Any sane person saw the signs saying: “Israel is equal to .. ‘. No anti-Semitism.
Voet blows it up, just like GeenStijl and some others, in a manner that must cost credibility. But unfortunately not everyone sees the fact gap.
–
If I zoom out – sorry Mart – I hardly believe anyone who (implicitly) has chosen sides in this matter. Fact manipulating and lying have become so common, that what Peter points at, can happen easily.
op 15 07 2014 at 16:00 schreef Haes:
Nazisymbolen werden trouwens niet alleen bij de PVV-demonstratie meegedragen. Zelfs Tel Aviv ontkomt er niet aan:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.605234#.U8U8hA54nRU.twitter
op 15 07 2014 at 23:03 schreef edo:
Ik denk niet dat de Engelstalige wereld hier erg geshockeerd door is. Chomsky heeft ook al zijn hele leven moeten in gaan tegen absurde aantijgingen. Voet’s non-argumentatie houdt de onwetende bevolking dom en houdt ze van enige vragen. Hokjes simpel houden. De absurde agressie vande regering Israël (het enige beleid waar het Westen iets aan kan doen) vooral niet ter discussie stellen door een rook gordijn op te trekken. Wanneer men accepteert dat Hamas een terroristische organisatie is dient mente accepteren dat Israël en Amerika terroristische staten zijn. Hun beleid zorgt namelijk voor veel meer slachtoffers. Dat Amerika een relatief vrije samenleving is zegt niets over hun buitenlands beleid.
op 15 07 2014 at 23:12 schreef Jeroen S. van den Heuvel:
Ingewikkeld stuk. Ligt niet aan het stuk overigens. Maar aan hoe ranzig het allemaal is. Leg dat maar eens uit.
op 15 07 2014 at 23:13 schreef edo:
En ja Eddy Terstall en Elma Drayer en Max Pam de ISIS is verschrikkelijk (niet dat jullie daar ook maar iets constructiefs over hebben te melden, maar toch).
op 16 07 2014 at 07:23 schreef Kimo:
Peter heeft geluisterd naar het advies over te gaan op Engels. Dit waardeer ik zeer en is een goeie zet.
Ik ga deze site nu gelijk onder mijn internationale vrienden bekend maken.
Chapeau
op 16 07 2014 at 09:04 schreef wiske:
Dom en simpel houden, daarom is het altijd van belang wie het eerste en hardste schreeuwt,dat blijft hangen, er is geen tijd om iets te controleren het volgende nieuws komt er al weer aan. Het hebben van een mening dàt is belangrijk, hoe bombastisch ingefluisterd dan ook!
(factfree opinionmaking; the foxnews implant in your brain)
also: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-28310504
op 16 07 2014 at 11:42 schreef marcodebaar:
It is informative to open the video-link in this Volkskrant article -This ourageous scene happened only a year ago-:
Clearly, only asking Wilders to distance himself from nazi participation and nazi-symbolism is already enough to trigger a flurry of insults, followed by a stream of rude tweets. In case of Elatik, however, distortion of the truth, and accusation by implication is the norm. Very sad…
op 16 07 2014 at 12:27 schreef dewanand:
namaste Peter, ea Fnaakters,
in NL:
het seculiere fundamentalisme is erg Hollands en als je dit wil internationaliseren dan zijn er veel meer talen dan alleen het engels. Idee is om een engelstalige mirror site te bouwen van FN via je netwerkje met vertalers en zo buiten nederland lezers trekken. Alles restylen met hi webtech lijkt mij dan beter, als je internationaal wil scoren met je excellente teksten. Hou het dan op een site wel 100 % engels he en niet mixen met nl want veel lezers uit het buitenland (ook india) vinden dat erg amateuristisch en beledigend.
Opmerkelijke tip:
Er zijn meer huizen internationaal dan Hollandse kerken.
Maw: die uitstervende 0,3 procent hollandse witte muizen zijn niet het centrum op aarde en zij zijn niet de enigen met grote, superieure blanke hersenen, zgn Uberlanders, dus de andere gekleurde sub rassen en volkeren (Afrika, India, Indonesie, china enz) kunnen een totaal andere visie hebben op joden, anti semitisme, adolf hitler, WOIII, enz. Hou eens hier rekening mee als je internationaal lezers wil trekken.
Heel gevoelig thema zeg. Complexe materie voor een antropoloog en wetenschappelijke historicus. Zwart/Wit analyses volstaan niet.
op 17 07 2014 at 21:55 schreef Sasha Berkman:
Peter, weet je al wat zionisme inhoudt?
op 19 07 2014 at 20:27 schreef edo:
Iedereen die ook maar iets weet van wat zich nu in Israel afspeelt en deze reactie ziet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z8soewv4Xs weet dat onze Minister President ofwel totaal ongeinformeerd is, ofwel immoreel tot op het bot is.
Echt, ik heb er geen woorden voor.
op 26 07 2014 at 10:57 schreef Linda:
Typical CIDI hysteria of course; yet at the same time, she didn’t know anything about Nazi flags? Bullshit, these are standard fare at demonstrations of this kind, and reasonable critics of Israel, if they have any intention of being perceived as such, could make a little more effort to keep a distance from the genocidal hordes.
op 27 07 2014 at 16:42 schreef Rhazes:
There is something strange happening at the moment — right wingers seem to have all of a sudden discovered antisemitism and express a grave concern for it. Suddenly antisemitic flags being displayed and slogans being shouted on Dutch streets by some people is bringing down Western civilization as we know it…
This is rather strange because these people have existed for decades. Neo-Nazi thugs regularly hold demonstrations waving Nazi flags, giving Hitler salutes and shouting antisemitic slogans. As mentioned in the article, some of these folks ended up at pro-Wilders rallies. But somehow I missed all the extensive, in-depth coverage of these events by brave, worried-for-the-fate-of-our-civilization journalists like Nanninga and Schut. It almost seems like there’s no ‘news value’ in covering these events, whereas there’s much bread to be buttered in the business of Islam-bashing. Perhaps that is why they focus so much on the latter, while totally ignoring the former?
But things like consistency, adherence to principles, impartiality, etc. are standards we hold journalists to, which excludes the right-wing muckraker, whose business is different entirely.
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