Pro-jihad march in Holland
THE SIMON Wiesenthal Centre has urged Holland to ban the Islamic State (IS) after it emerged that a rally organised by supporters of the jihadi group took place in The Hague earlier this month.
In a letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Shimon Samuels — the centre’s director for international relations — said a group presenting itself as IS openly called for the murder of Jews during a march on July 4.
Mr Samuels told the JC he had not yet received a reply to his letter calling for IS the group be barred from Holland.
Mr Samuels said he was shocked by a video of the demonstration which was filmed and distributed by the omroepwest.nl website.
He likened the group’s views to those of the perpetrators of the murders at a Jewish school in Toulouse in March 2012 and at the Brussels Jewish Museum earlier this year.
“Unless jihadism in your country is totally quashed, Dutch returnees from their Syrian baptism of fire and jihadist websites at home will menace Jews, Muslims and all other citizens of the Netherlands,” Mr Samuels wrote.
Mr Samuels also criticised Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen for authorising the march.
A spokesman for the mayor said: “Dutch law states that the mayor may impose a restriction to the demonstration only in very exceptional circumstances… The law thus protects freedom of speech and freedom of demonstration. Prohibiting demonstrations is something for a dictatorship.”