In November, the Dutch political elite overwhelmingly sided with Israeli soccer fans after they ran amok in Amsterdam and provoked violence with the local population. The injustice did not stop at the distorted story that Dutch politicians decided to adopt.
The clashes have given the ruling Dutch right-wing coalition a convenient excuse to propose a series of measures clearly aimed at the country’s Muslim community. These proposals – which they probably had up their sleeves for a long time – included revoking the passports of dual nationals, and temporary residency permits from migrants if they were judged to be “anti-Semitic” – with the caveat that in today’s political climate, almost any statement criticizing the Israeli genocide in Gaza it is labeled as anti-Semitic or terrorist.
Other measures include banning public funding of so-called anti-Semitic organizations, designating terrorist entities and putting them on sanctions lists, banning the Palestinian prisoner support network Samidoun and criminalizing “glorification of terrorism”.
The government has so far implemented only one of these proposals – the establishment of a “working group to combat anti-Semitism”. It remains to be seen if and when the others will be put into practice.
To anyone who has closely followed what Germany has done over the past 15 months, the rhetoric and actions of the Dutch government may sound familiar. For over a year now, the German government has been doing its best not only to support Israel, but also to criminalize and victimize its Muslim, refugee and immigrant communities. In doing so, it set a precedent that is now being followed by other European countries.
In June, the German parliament passed a new citizenship law that mandates an “anti-Semitism check” for applicants and excludes the granting of citizenship to anyone deemed “anti-Semitic” or not committed to Germany’s raison d’etat for its unconditional support of the Israeli state. The criteria are based on the issue IHRA definition which links anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.
Liking a social media post with slogans like “From the river to the sea” or one accusing Israel of murdering children could be enough to deny applicants citizenship. Dual nationals may also be unsafe – German law allows authorities to revoke citizenship up to 10 years after they have been granted it, although the threshold for doing so remains high and largely untested.
In October, German lawmakers also approved a new immigration policy, allowing the state to revoke refugee status from people deemed to support “anti-Semitism.”
In November, the German parliament passed a resolution targeting individuals and groups critical of Israel. Those deemed to be “anti-Semitic” as defined by the IHRA or found to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement should be excluded from any public funding initiatives – even if their work is completely unrelated with Palestine.
The resolution also calls for the “use of repressive options” and the use of “criminal, residence, asylum and citizenship laws” against those deemed to be “anti-Semitic”.
Although the resolution is non-binding, it is also not legally challengeable and is likely to have a huge chilling effect on civil society that is heavily dependent on government funding and normalize the encroachment on the rights of asylum seekers and migrants. As Nadija Samour, senior legal advisor of the European Center for Legal Support, warns, the resolution will “cement the use of migration laws as a form of persecution.”
Less than two weeks after the resolution was passed, a German foundation cited it in its decision to revoke an architecture prize awarded to an artist who had signed a letter condemning Israel.
The threat of “repressive measures” is nothing new for groups and organizations focusing on Palestinian solidarity in Germany. Since October 7, 2023, they have faced mass repression, police violence and surveillance, their bank accounts have been frozen, and demonstrations and events have been canceled or completely banned, such as Samidoun.
Human rights groups have sounded the alarm over Germany’s authoritarian trajectory. They warned that freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of art and academic freedom are being violated. ua statementmajor civil society organizations called the resolution enabling “serious violations of fundamental and human rights and significant legal uncertainty”.
In asylum policy, we are witnessing how the most destructive anti-migration measures of one country were first criticized, then normalized, and finally adopted by others. A similar pattern appears to be playing out with the crackdown on anti-Israel protests, as the Netherlands appears to be following Germany’s slide toward authoritarianism. And she is not alone in that.
France passed a law in December that, if approved by the Senate, would deny citizenship, naturalization or residency to foreigners convicted of discriminatory offenses based on race, religion or national origin. This follows proposed legislation in October that would make “terrorist apologetics”, denying the existence of Israel and comparing Jews or Israel to the Holocaust illegal.
In what was called In an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian activists, the UK introduced a new one definition of extremism in March of last year, which blocks “extremist” groups from receiving government funds and meeting with officials.
It is worrying that there has not been enough public reaction against these authoritarian tendencies. In the Netherlands, public outrage focused on racist comments made by Dutch officials following the violence.
There was a backlash when the Dutch parliament passed a proposal in late November asking the government to collect data on the “norms and values” of Dutch citizens with a migrant background. This data was supposed to “offer insight into [their] cultural integration” and help in “targeted problem solving”. Following outrage on social media over the apparently discriminatory proposal, the Dutch prime minister has vowed not to act on the proposal.
But there was no major mobilization to protest against and stop any other repressive measures. Such is the case elsewhere in Europe.
Europeans must understand that defending freedom of speech is not only about the Palestinians and those who stand in solidarity with them. European history is full of examples where repression aimed at one group spreads to others.
We must demand that our governments protect people’s rights to speak out and take action against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as Europe’s complicity in it. Ignoring this issue would allow authoritarianism to spread unabated in Europe.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
