Opposition legislators condemns Wilders statements during a parliamentary debate calling them inflammatory and not conducive to “a better society".
Far-right Dutch political leader Geert Wilders blamed “Moroccans and Muslims” for attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last week, asserting that they “want to destroy Jews” and recommending the deportation of people convicted of involvement if they have dual nationality.
While lawmakers condemned anti-semitism and agreed that perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and handed harsh punishments, opposition legislators accused Wilders of “pouring oil on the fire”.
Violence erupted in the Dutch capital before and after last week's football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli hooligans chanted racist anti-Arab slogans, tore down Palestinian flags and ignored a minute of silence for the Spanish flood victims.
After the match, a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said. There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said.
Amsterdam police said five people were treated in hospital for injuries. Police detained dozens of people before the match, but there were no immediate arrests for violence after it.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Amsterdam's central Dam Square to hold a demonstration despite a new city ban on such gatherings.
Large numbers of police, including some on horseback, were present and detained most of the protesters after they refused to leave, escorting them mostly peacefully into two buses and driving them away from the square.
The violence badly tarnished Amsterdam's long-held image as a haven of tolerance and sparked soul-searching across the country.
Wilders, whose anti-immigration Party for Freedom won elections last year and now is part of a four-party ruling coalition government, said Wednesday that on the night Amsterdam commemorated Kristallnacht, the 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany, “we saw Muslims hunting Jews on the streets of Amsterdam,” and blamed ”Moroccans who want to destroy Jews".
He gave no evidence. Police and prosecutors have not disclosed the identities of any of the suspects that were detained, in line with Dutch privacy rules.
Wilders advocated canceling the Dutch passports of people convicted of involvement in the violence — if they have a double passport — and deporting them.
Wilders, who is sometimes described as the Dutch Donald Trump because of his fierce anti-immigration rhetoric has long been a staunch supporter of Israel.
Some lawmakers warned that his new comments only served to deepen divisions in Dutch society.
Rob Jetten of the centrist D66 party said Wilders' rhetoric "does not contribute in any way to healing. In no way does he contribute to bringing our country together, but he throws oil on the fire and thus does not bring solutions against antisemitism and for a better society any closer, but only further away.”
Frans Timmermans, who leads the biggest center-left bloc in parliament, agreed.
“What you are doing is just stirring things up, dividing this country when this country needs politicians who bring people together, who bring solutions closer," Timmermans said.
In Amsterdam, a prominent Jewish member of the City Council, Itay Garmy, said that although there’s a lot of anger and fear within the Jewish community, inflammatory remarks wouldn’t help.
“Don’t use my security or my suffering or my fear as a Jew to create political gains for yourself and make your points about integration, migration or Muslim hate,” Garmy said.
Far-right Dutch political leader Geert Wilders blamed “Moroccans and Muslims” for attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last week, asserting that they “want to destroy Jews” and recommending the deportation of people convicted of involvement if they have dual nationality.
While lawmakers condemned anti-semitism and agreed that perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and handed harsh punishments, opposition legislators accused Wilders of “pouring oil on the fire”.
Violence erupted in the Dutch capital before and after last week's football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli hooligans chanted racist anti-Arab slogans, tore down Palestinian flags and ignored a minute of silence for the Spanish flood victims.
After the match, a large group of Maccabi supporters armed with sticks ran around “destroying things,” a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities said. There were also “rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing,” it said.
Amsterdam police said five people were treated in hospital for injuries. Police detained dozens of people before the match, but there were no immediate arrests for violence after it.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Amsterdam's central Dam Square to hold a demonstration despite a new city ban on such gatherings.
Large numbers of police, including some on horseback, were present and detained most of the protesters after they refused to leave, escorting them mostly peacefully into two buses and driving them away from the square.
The violence badly tarnished Amsterdam's long-held image as a haven of tolerance and sparked soul-searching across the country.
Wilders, whose anti-immigration Party for Freedom won elections last year and now is part of a four-party ruling coalition government, said Wednesday that on the night Amsterdam commemorated Kristallnacht, the 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany, “we saw Muslims hunting Jews on the streets of Amsterdam,” and blamed ”Moroccans who want to destroy Jews".
He gave no evidence. Police and prosecutors have not disclosed the identities of any of the suspects that were detained, in line with Dutch privacy rules.
Wilders advocated canceling the Dutch passports of people convicted of involvement in the violence — if they have a double passport — and deporting them.
Wilders, who is sometimes described as the Dutch Donald Trump because of his fierce anti-immigration rhetoric has long been a staunch supporter of Israel.
Some lawmakers warned that his new comments only served to deepen divisions in Dutch society.
Rob Jetten of the centrist D66 party said Wilders' rhetoric "does not contribute in any way to healing. In no way does he contribute to bringing our country together, but he throws oil on the fire and thus does not bring solutions against antisemitism and for a better society any closer, but only further away.”
Frans Timmermans, who leads the biggest center-left bloc in parliament, agreed.
“What you are doing is just stirring things up, dividing this country when this country needs politicians who bring people together, who bring solutions closer," Timmermans said.
In Amsterdam, a prominent Jewish member of the City Council, Itay Garmy, said that although there’s a lot of anger and fear within the Jewish community, inflammatory remarks wouldn’t help.
“Don’t use my security or my suffering or my fear as a Jew to create political gains for yourself and make your points about integration, migration or Muslim hate,” Garmy said.
