OPINION:
A pogrom is a premeditated, organized, violent riot to threaten, intimidate, and massacre Jews made common in late 19th and early 20th century Russia and Eastern Europe. Last week, in the continent best known for a genocide against the Jewish people less than a century ago, that’s exactly what happened again.
It’s ironic that the latest pogrom took place in the country made famous by Anne Frank (whose family was initially hidden but then turned in to the Nazis) and Righteous Gentiles like Corrie Ten Boom (who put their own lives on the line to protect Jews). In the Netherlands, Jews are once again being hunted, and not protected by the authorities.
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It’s ironic that the latest pogrom happened the week of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi pogrom throughout Germany, an event that was not only threatening to Jews but a test the rest of the world failed by not speaking up and stopping the Nazis then. As a result, the Nazis understood they could implement their “final solution” and nobody would rise to protect the Jews. The latest pogrom is a similar test for the future of Europe.
It’s not only that Jews were hunted and targeted deliberately throughout the streets of Amsterdam, but the ability to do so was self-inflicted, made possible by decades of immigration policies allowing violent Arab/Islamic extremists to entrench themselves in cities across Europe, not just in the Netherlands.
After the fact, Dutch leaders spoke out in shame. King Willem-Alexander spoke to Israeli President Isaac Herzog saying, “We disappointed Dutch Jewry during the Holocaust, and tonight, we disappointed you again.”
Leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders posted on X/Twitter: “I am speechless. Amsterdam Police just confirmed that NO ONE has been arrested during the Islamic Jewhunt in Amsterdam Thursday night.”
Christians for Israel mobilized to protect Israelis, despite threats to themselves, evoking the actual memory of Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews in the Holocaust.
Despite this, the reality is much worse than being reported outside Israel. Israel sent rescue flights to bring home some 2,000 Israelis. Israeli media is widely covering the horrifying stories of those who were attacked, and the Dutch response.
What’s now known is that the Arab/Islamic attacks on Jews in Amsterdam were premeditated, coordinated, and instigated on social media days before the pogrom. What’s now known is that Israeli Jews were targeted and harassed in public, in the days before the pogrom. What’s now known is that taxi drivers were part of the plot to target Israelis, physically preventing them from escaping. Israelis reported fleeing for their safety into waiting taxis, only to be hijacked to side streets to the hands of waiting mobs. What’s now known is that violent Arab/Islamic mobs waited along the train route from the stadium to attack the Jewish Israeli fans fleeing. Underscoring that this was premeditated, the mobs were armed with knives, sticks, batons, and fireworks which they set off at the Jews.
To escape the violent Arab/Islamist mobs and protect themselves, Jews jumped into canals and hid in random stores and kind strangers’ apartments. The violent Arab/Islamist mobs prowled the streets demanding identification from people to target the Israelis, posting many of their victims on social media.
It’s also known that the Israeli government warned Dutch authorities of these planned attacks. Not only were the warnings not heeded, but there were also reports of police refusing to protect the Jewish Israelis.
SEE ALSO: Amsterdam police detain pro-Palestinian protesters at banned demonstration
A modern Righteous Gentile stepped up and reportedly saved several Jewish Israelis: a Druze Israeli citizen who confused the Arab/Islamic mob by speaking in Arabic to throw them off the trail of hunting the Jews. Melhem Asad is being celebrated as the hero he is.
While dozens were arrested, it’s also now known that none of the violent Arab/Islamic mob who attacked, hunted, threatened, kicked, beat, stabbed, pummeled, or terrorized Jews remain in custody.
It’s clear what needs to happen, but the question is how Dutch and all European leaders will respond. What needs to happen is that the mob who promoted, incited, and perpetrated the pogrom must all be tracked down and arrested.
Laws need to be enforced to the strictest, and established where they don’t yet exist, for the harshest consequences. Europeans need to revoke citizenship of those committing antisemitic crimes, and instantly deport any non-citizens involved.
This is the time for Europe to save itself, to vomit out the evil in their midst, evil rooted in intolerant Islam. Europe must correct the lenient and self-destructive policy of granting residency and even citizenship to people from Arab and Islamic countries, no matter why they want to leave their countries, on a false sense of being righteous rather than essential self-preservation. It’s as if Europe provided the tools and resources to build a continent-wide Trojan horse, allowing people who have no interest in European culture, history, or its future to enter freely, hijack the continent, and see Europe as just another place to conquer, over which to raise the flag of Islam.
Had it not been for the Allies defeating the Nazis, all of Europe would be speaking German today, there would be no Jews, and the world would be a different place. But today, Europe must save itself as there will be no allied troops coming to rescue them from their inability or unwillingness to protect themselves from their self-inflicted stupidity.
Ironically, the Amsterdam pogrom took place the week of the planned announcement of a unique program to bring people to follow in the footsteps of Righteous Gentiles, specifically highlighting stories of Righteous Gentiles in the Netherlands. Now, we have to question whether this is realistic, or safe at all.
Theodor Herzl is known as the founder of modern Zionism, giving voice to millennia of Jewish dreams to return to the Land of Israel, and creating the infrastructure to advocate for the restoration of Jewish sovereignty from the late 1800s. The catalyst for his activism was the infamous 1894 trial of French Captain Afred Dreyfus, who was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison for clearly trumped-up charges rooted in overt antisemitism, even in “enlightened” 19th-century Europe. Herzl believed that the solution to antisemitism was for the Jewish people to have their own state, to be able to live normally, equally, among the nations of the world, not as a persecuted dispersed minority among other nations since the First Century.
Unfortunately, Herzl was mistaken. Israel is indeed a thriving sanctuary for the Jewish people, and indeed a light unto the nations. However, its existence is not the panacea that Herzl dreamt it would be to end antisemitism. Rather, it gives fuel in the tank for antisemites to morph, creating new excuses to hate and persecute Jews. Even in Amsterdam. Even while watching a soccer game.
In the 20th century, Europe was saved by the Allies shedding blood to prevent the entire continent from becoming Nazi. Unfortunately, this was too late for 6 million Jews. Now, 21st-century Europe is at a juncture and must decide if they want to save themselves or go down the path of darkness where any semblance of light in their “enlightenment” will be extinguished. This is their last opportunity to save themselves.
Will Europe resist cancer that they have allowed and even enabled to grow from within, or continue to suffer the evil consequences until ISIS-like gangs control entire cities, not just no-go neighborhoods, and destroy any semblance of what Europe once was, culturally and physically?
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Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has become a respected bridge between Jews and Christians and serves as president of the Genesis 123 Foundation (www.Genesis123.co). He writes regularly about Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He is host of the popular Inspiration from Zion podcast and publisher of www.IsraeltheMiracle.com. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.
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