Right-wing populist Wilders wants to denaturalize violent criminals from Amsterdam

The radical right-wing populist Geert Wilders wants those responsible for the violent attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam to be expatriated. In parliament in The Hague, the leader of the largest parliamentary group blamed Muslims and Dutch people from Morocco for the violence. “We saw Muslims hunting Jews in the streets of Amsterdam, a pogrom of the worst kind.” The perpetrators must be severely punished and this would also include the withdrawal of Dutch nationality if the person has dual nationality. The investigators have not yet provided any information about the origin or religious affiliation of the suspected perpetrators.

Parliament had called for an emergency debate on last week’s incidents. On Friday night, dozens of Israeli football fans were attacked in the Dutch capital. The attacks caused horror around the world. 20 to 30 people were injured, mostly slightly. So far three young men have been arrested over the attacks. More arrests are expected.

The right-wing coalition parties, which for the first time also includes Wilders’ Party for Freedom, want to introduce tough penalties for anti-Semitism and are calling for strict requirements for the integration of migrants.

Opposition politicians accused Wilders of fomenting hatred against Muslims. He was adding fuel to the fire, warned the Social Democrat Frans Timmermans. “You can’t fight hate with hate.”

The Amsterdam authorities and police had reconstructed the events of the night. Accordingly, the rioters attacked the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv “on foot, on mopeds and in cars”. The city and police spoke of targeted anti-Semitic attacks. There had previously been calls for a “hunt for Jews” on the Internet. The reconstruction also reports acts of violence by large groups of Israeli fans as well as racist behavior towards Muslim Dutch people.