“The only way to deal with the issue of anti-Semitism is to increase education,” says Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of Holland, in a reaction to news that in a bid to counter attacks on Jews Dutch police may begin going undercover dressed as Jews.
Ahmed Marcouch, a Labour MP of Moroccan origin, recently suggested that police dress as civilians with kippas in neighbourhoods where Jews are often insulted or beaten up.
Rabbi Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Inter Provincial Chief Rabbinate (IPOR) and President of the Rabbinical Counsel for The Netherlands, claimed that this idea to combat anti-Semitism would fail unless it was accompanied by a greater emphasis on education amongst the Dutch public.
“The main problem relating to anti-Semitism is the lack of education,” Rabbi Jacobs told EJP. “Today, there are many schools which simply skip the lessons relating to World War II and the Holocaust.”
“This is because many teachers and principals fear a negative reaction from pupils who are from Muslim backgrounds, but it is too easy to blame the Muslim community, when I witness that also Dutch non-Muslim youngsters are shouting at me when I am in the street.”
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Holland according to statistics compiled by organizations like the Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), an organization monitoring anti-Semitism in the country.
The Jewish communities are being verbally and physically attacked and confronted with Nazi slogans.
“However, as bad as anti-Semitism in Holland has become I would also like to stress that there are many Dutch people who openly sympathize with the Jewish people,” Rabbi Jacobs said. “When red paint was recently spread over the door of my synagogue in Amersfoot, many non-Jews came to help clean off the paint.”
According to statistics the majority of the attacks are committed by Muslim immigrants.There are almost a million Muslims living in Holland.
“All new police initiatives are welcome. However, there need to be far more investment in education of values and against hate crimes like anti-Semitism,” Rabbi Jacobs said.
“I would recommend the Dutch national or local government to organize visits by Rabbis or volunteers from the Jewish community in schools to talk to students, even young children. I believe this would undoubtedly have a great effect.”
Rabbi Jacobs himself recently witnessed unidentified persons shouting Nazi slogans during a memorial service for Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
He is a member of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE), an organization dedicated to meeting the religious and spiritual needs of Jewish communities in Europe.
A mistake made by many is pointing our fingers the moment something is wrong. People forget too thank those that do help us!!! Not every gentile is an anti-semite, and we should be grateful to those who openly oppose and fight anti semitism.