Member of Parliament Mr Tokik Dibi has expressed grave concerns relating to the potential import of the Middle-East conflict into Europe and the Netherlands in particular. The GroenLinks MP made his comments in reaction to recent EU-reports of growing Antisemitism across Europe. Mr Dibi said "the war in the Middle East already causes too much suffering as things are. Concerted efforts must be made to solve the problems that are there, rather than allowing those to spill-over into the wider region and beyond."
Mr Dibi called upon the minister for Housing, Communities and Integration (WWI), Minister Eberhard van der Laan, to establish clearly and in no uncertain terms that aggression and intolerance in our society are totally unacceptable. He also proposed that Van der Laan invite and facilitate both Dutch Muslims and Jews to join him in a campaign against discrimination and violence.
Below are the written parliamentary questions submitted by Mr Dibi (GroenLinks) to the minister for Housing, Communities and Integration (WWI), and the minister for Justice, concerning the most recent sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the European Union
(2 March 2009).
1. Have the ministers taken notice of the press report entitled: “More anti-Semitic incidents in the EU” [N’lands :Meer antisemitische incidenten in de EU] (Reuters/ANP, 2 March 2009)?
2. Are we all in agreement that these recent reports concern a very serious development? If so, what subsequent actions have the ministers undertaken respectively?
3. What action are you taking to prevent the conflict in the Middle East from becoming an explosive import product into this country?
4. Does Minister Van de Laan recall his statement, that “Arabs shall have to learn about the Holocaust and Israelis about the Nakba”, during his public address of 22 January? Is the minister prepared to stimulate the advent of that very process for our Muslim and our Jewish communities?
5. Is the minister prepared to sit and discuss with members of the Islamic and Jewish communities what initiatives may be commenced collectively in this regard?
6. Will the minister assume a leading-role at EU-level to rein in this most recent rising tide of Antisemitism? If so, how does the minister propose to do that?