Christians kick anti-Israel protesters out of Dutch coastal town

The clash followed months of anti-Israel agitation in large Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, where Jews were assaulted last year during an “occupation” event at the University of Amsterdam.

By Canaan Lidor, JNS

Anti-Israel protesters who demonstrated outside a Christian-Zionist celebration in the Netherlands on Wednesday were chased away by locals, some of whom assaulted the outsiders and made others “run for their lives,” an observer told JNS.

The event in the Dutch coastal town of Katwijk was an Independence Day celebration by Christians for Israel that drew hundreds of Israel’s supporters, as well as its ambassador Ephraim Modi and Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs.

Up to 30 anti-Israel demonstrators, reportedly mobilized by Salafist preacher Abu Hafs (real name Fuad al-Bush), gathered near the Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”) where the celebration was taking place. Two locals were arrested, and one person was hurt, police said.

Bart Schut, the deputy editor-in-chief of the NIW Dutch weekly, who attended the event, described the protest as an echo of a similar recent disruption in Zaltbommel. “These were the same guys who attacked and spat on people during an evening of Christians for Israel a couple of weeks ago,” Schut told JNS.

A group of locals spontaneously assembled and headed toward the area where the anti-Israel protesters had assembled. The group left the Nieuw Kerk area, where many in the crowd included families, older residents, and flag-waving supporters of Israel, and a more aggressive element emerged.

“It was mainly youths from both of Katwijk’s large football clubs who basically had enough,” said Schut. “They fought the Muslim protesters and made them run for their lives in some cases.”

The clash followed months of anti-Israel agitation in large Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, where Jews were assaulted last year during an “occupation” event at the University of Amsterdam.

‘We don’t accept that here’

In Katwijk, a traditional fishing town, the arrival of a predominantly Muslim group of protesters felt like a repeat of those scenes, Schut said. “This is not Amsterdam,” he stated bluntly. “People here are pro-Israel and pro-Christian. They won’t tolerate the kind of Salafist, Islamist aggression we’ve seen elsewhere.”

The police said the anti-Israel protesters were “escorted away for their safety.”

According to Schut, the local reaction was about more than just politics: “People decided to take a stand and defend their town against what they see as a foreign, Islamist, antisemitic influence.”

The incident sparked strong reactions online and threats by Muslims to come to Katwijk and cause disturbances. Locals Schut spoke with were undeterred. “Let them come,” one told him. “This is Katwijk. We don’t accept that here.”

As for the Dutch-Jewish community, several of its prominent members celebrated the incident. Wim Kortenoeven, a former Dutch lawmaker who moved to Israel several years ago, posted on Facebook an image that depicts Katwijk as the village of Asterix, a comic book hero whose Gaulish village resists the forces of Julius Caesar thanks to a magic potion that enhances strength.