Via RNW:
Prominent VVD politician Frits Bolkestein believes there is no future for ,active' Jews in the Netherlands. The conservative politician made his remarks in an interview with newspaper De Pers.
In the interview, Mr Bolkestein says that when he talks about active Jews he means those who are recognisable as such, for instance Orthodox Jews. The former EU Commissioner says there is no future for this group in the Netherlands because of "the anti-Semitism among Dutchmen of Moroccan descent, whose numbers keep growing''.
He feels that this group of Jews should encourage their children to emigrate to either the United States or Israel, because he has little confidence in the effectiveness of the government's proposals for fighting anti-Semitism.
(source)
Bolkestein told De Pers: "I'm pessimistic. Because the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - that's mostly about the West Bank - is still rampant. I don't foresee any speedy solution and antisemitism will continue to exist. Many Moroccan and Turkish youth won't care at all about the measures." Arabic TV broadcasters which are viewed here via satellite, also play a role in that process, he says.
Bolkestein made similar statements in Het Verval (The Decline), Manfred Garstenfeld's recent book about Judaism in the Netherlands. The book describes how even bar-mitzvah parties now have guards and tells of a young man from Rotterdam who kept a journal of how he was called "cancer-Jew" time and time again.
Update: Fix in translation
