Dutch Right-Winger Called ‘Dangerous’ to Jews
The chairman of the Jewish Community of Amsterdam asked a Dutch politician to warn U.S. Jews about a “dangerous” rightist Dutch legislator.
Ronnie Eisenman, chairman of the executive board of the Jewish Community of Amsterdam, or NIHS, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that the “Amsterdam Jewish community regards [Dion] Graus as a danger for the interests of Dutch Jewish community.”
Graus, an advocate of a ban on ritual slaughter, is in charge of animal welfare for the Party for Freedom headed by Geert Wilders.
Eisenman said the statement was based on “the content of [Graus’] standpoints and his presentation” in debating ritual slaughter.
The message was “conveyed” to Wim Kortenoeven, another legislator, before Kortenoeven’s visit to to the U.S. earlier this month to meet with Jewish groups, Eisenman said on Twitter.
The various institutions of the Dutch Jewish community rarely publicly state their positions on individual politicians or political parties.
In June, the Dutch Senate scrapped a ban on ritual slaughter which the lower house passed last year. The law, tabled by the small Party for the Animals, had passed the lower house largely due to the support of the Party for Freedom – the country’s third largest.
Last month, the Party for Freedom pledged its commitment to legislating a ban in its platform for elections in September.
The Party for Freedom “was never prepared to go into a discussion with the Jewish community,” Eisenman also said.
In the U.S., Kortenoeven – who recently left the Party for Freedom – met with representatives of key Jewish organizations. He says he warned them about Wilders’ support for a ban on ritual slaughter.
Kortenoeven spoke with Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, and met Orthodox Union representatives and other prominent Jewish American groups, he said.
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