Dutch Police May Dress Up As Jews To Combat Violence
In a creative move aimed at curbing a recent spike in anti-Semitic violence, Dutch police are considering dressing up as religious Jews to bait potential attackers.
The idea was first suggested on Wednesday by Ahmed Marcouch, a Moroccan-born Dutch legislator who has previously taken heat for his
support of liberal causes. “I say send fake Jews to arrest the attackers,” he said in a radio interview quoted by Haaretz. “Everything must be done to keep this phenomenon from growing.”
CIDI, a Jewish watchdog group, counted as many attacks in the first month of 2009 as in all of 2008. “It has become
common for Jews to hide their skull-caps on the street,” Ronny Naftaniel, CIDI’s leader, told Haaretz.
According to JTA, Amsterdam’s mayor is actively considering the proposal.
The article also states that Dutch Jewish leaders reportedly support the plan, an offshoot of another program aimed at combating anti-gay violence. Currently undercover officers pose as gay men to catch homophobic offenders.
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