Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has suggested that dual nationals involved in the antisemitic “pogrom” in Amsterdam last week could have their citizenship revoked from the Netherlands under existing anti-terror laws.
During a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Prime Minister Schoof said that it is “conceivable” to revoke Dutch passports from dual nationals who took part in what has been described as a “Jew hunt” following a Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match last Thursday in Amsterdam.
The attacks saw roaming gangs of young men — alleged to be mainly of Moroccan and North African heritage — conduct ‘hit and run’ attacks on visiting Israeli supporters, leaving over two dozen injured. The attackers used scooters to quickly come upon their victims and flee the scene before police could respond. It has been reported that the “pogrom” was organised on messaging apps and assisted by taxi drivers, who were aware of the locations of Israeli supporters.
Schoof told the Dutch Congress that the attacks could be classified as terrorism, which would enable the Public Prosecution Service to rescind citizenship and remove naturalised migrants who were involved from the country, broadcaster NOS reports.
“Terrorism aims to instil fear,” the prime minister said. “It is conceivable that the term terrorism fits last Thursday.”
Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders, the head of the strongest faction in the coalition government, has been leading the charge for deportations and the removal of citizenship, joined by partners in the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB).
Responding to the suggestion from the PM of utilising existing anti-terror laws, Wilders wrote on X: “Great news! Prime Minister Schoof confirms that the Public Prosecution Service can prosecute the perpetrators on the basis of terrorism and that a conviction can lead to the withdrawal of Dutch nationality. No amendment to the law is required for this.”
The populist firebrand, known for his longstanding opposition to mass migration from the Muslim world, added that it is also being considered to make antisemitism grounds for revoking citizenship from migrants.
Prime Minister Schoof also said, in response to allegations from leftist lawmakers that the government was scapegoating migrants, that there has been a failure to integrate some ethnic minorities into the Dutch way of life, particularly among young men born in the country to foreign parents.
“We have to stop pretending that the problem of young people with a migration background who use antisemitic violence is not an integration problem,” he said. “We cannot make it smaller than it is.”
To the furious objection of left-wing opposition MPs, over supposedly imposing “collective guilt” on the Muslim migrant community and thereby making innocent people uncomfortable in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders remarked: “Those Muslims, including the Muslims of last Thursday, who have hatred of Jews in their DNA and who have started hunting down Jews, will never be allowed to feel safe, never, ever, as far as I am concerned.”
Meanwhile, despite continued acts of violence this week in Amsterdam, the capital’s leftist mayor Femke Halsema announced an end of the prohibition on protests, however, the city will remain designated as a security risk area until Monday, meaning that people can be frisked by police at random.
The protest ban was implemented on Friday following the attacks. However, the city council argued that keeping the order in effect was placing too much strain on police resources and that “peaceful demonstration is also a necessary outlet for the many emotions and tensions that live in our city.”
On Wednesday, local authorities approved an anti-Israel demonstration but ordered that it take place in the Westergasterrein park area instead of Dam Square in the centre of the city. Despite the order, demonstrators still gathered in Dam Square, resulting in 281 arrests, many of whom refused to vacate the area. Amid the continued chaos on the city streets, Wilders has called for the left-wing mayor to be removed from office.