Amsterdam Image by iStock

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The son of a chief rabbi of the Netherlands and his family were accosted on the street by people he said intimidated the family, shouting at them “cancer Jews.”

Rabbi Yanki Jacobs, the son of Binyomin Jacobs, complained to police on Sunday about the incident, which occurred the previous evening, the AD news website reported.

On a street corner in a heavily Jewish area in southern Amsterdam, “two young men called out at the family: ‘Cancer Jews’ and ‘f—- all Jews’ at our direction. They repeatedly drove in our direction in an intimidating manner,” Yanki Jacobs is quoted as saying.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

He also listed on Twitter the license plate number of the vehicle he said the two men were in, with a request to help identify them. The men appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, he said.

“I have had enough,” he told AD, adding he had been cursed on the street before. “I’ve grown accustomed to thinking about it as normal but now thought that we as a Jewish community must no longer agree for this to happen to us. If I do nothing, who will? I walk around my neighborhood, a tenth-generation Amsterdam Jew and I will not be driven out of this city.”

The home of Binyomin Jacobs, Yanki Jacobs’ father, has been vandalized five times in recent years. In 2014 police advised Binyomin Jacobs to not use some trains for fear for his safety.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount