By Worthy News’ Johan Th. Bos reporting from the Netherlands and Stefan J. Bos
AMSTELVEEN, NETHERLANDS (Worthy News) – A prominent Jewish journalist whose family suffered in the Holocaust has expressed concern about rising antisemitism in the Netherlands where Hamas sympathizers have attacked universities causing millions in damages.
Frits Barend, 77, lives in Amsterdam’s suburban city of Amstelveen where a Jewish mother was forced to flee after she was threatened because her daughter serves in the Israeli army.
There have been numerous attacks against Jews in the Netherlands in recent months, with some families now considering to leave, perhaps emigrating to Israel.
There are still some 40,000 Jews in the Netherlands as more than 100,000 were murdered in the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
Those killing Jews at the time were Nazis and their allies. Barend, known for presenting television and radio programs, said many demonstrators nowadays are inspired by Hamas “a terrorist organization that wants nothing more than to destroy Israel and kill all Jews.”
Hamas’ focus on the extermination of Jews and Israel makes it difficult to sit down with them to talk about a peaceful solution to the war in Gaza, he told the Christians for Israel channel on video sharing site YouTube.
He explained to presenter Sara van Oordt that his mother would have been shocked to see the massive police presence around the recent National Remembrance Day ceremony.
PRO-PALESTINE SUPPORTER
“The fear that a pro-Palestine supporter would disrupt the two minutes of silence [for the victims of World War Two] was in itself abhorrent, as well as the presence of 700 police officers,” he argued. “There should have been two officers to direct the coming and going traffic. We have come to regard the abnormal as normal.
He acknowledged the “suffering of children” in Gaza saying “it is terrible for parents when their child dies.”
Barend, an opponent of Israeli Prime Minisyer Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Hamas started the war and is not releasing hostages.
“While hundreds of wars are being waged by oppressors, the eyes of the world are focused exclusively on Gaza and Israel, the state that is also accused of oppression,” he noticed.
“We [Jews] are still popular, if only we were a little less popular,” added Barend, who has many relatives in Israel. “They [my relatives] are apparently less afraid than I am,” he admitted.
He would welcome a Palestinian state in the Middle East, “if it would contribute to peace.”
But he fears “there is no solution” because “the idea behind it is that Hamas aims to destroy Israel.”
GAZA PRISON?
He strongly disagrees with those claiming that Gaza is a prison. “It is one of the most beautiful parts of Israel and workers from Gaza can work freely at Israeli companies, where Muslim and Jewish children play together,” he noticed.
The veteran journalist suggested that Hamas propaganda was to blame for hatred toward Israel and its Jewish population. “You know what is anti-Semitism? It is an exaggerated hatred of Jews,” he said.
“Gone are the days when, as a Jew, you didn’t have to look back to see if someone follows you constantly,” he noticed.
Barend condemned “the so-called demonstration of pro-Palestine activists at the institutions for higher learning such as the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University.
He said the so called “pro-Palestinian resistance”came over from America and mainly leads to violence and destruction. Jews, he stressed, “are no longer allowed to do anything and they are blamed for everything. That also affects Israel.”
He acknowledged that what Israel “is doing now is too intense” but he wondered what the interviewer would do if her “husband was murdered,” her “house destroyed and children raped and then killed.” He referred to the Hamas attacks on October 7 when some 1,200 people were killed and hundreds abducted in southern Israel, triggering the current war.
Although Barend isn’t a Netanyahu fan, he understands Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. “There is absolutely no question of genocide. This is a struggle for the existence of Israel.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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