AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The deputy prime minister of the Netherlands said he has stopped interacting on social media because of anti-Semitic abuse against him.
Lodewijk Asscher, who has Jewish ancestors, in a post Tuesday on Facebook titled “Disrespectful Dog” lists the handles of several Twitter users who used anti-Semitic language against him.
One of the users wrote: “Asscher would rather crawl into a Muslim burrow than stand with his own nation! Just like his grandfather, who was happy to work for the occupier.”
Asscher, of the left-leaning Labor Party, wrote that the reference is actually to his great-grandfather, Abraham Asscher, who was a member of the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to control Dutch Jews ahead of their extermination in death camps. He sarcastically congratulated those who traced back his lineage for their “great interest in history.”
Another user wrote: “The Zionist dog Asscher skips U.N. meeting on racism, not anti-Semitism. The former doesn’t interest him.”
For many users, Asscher wrote, “my Jewish last name is a plausible explanation for my behavior and attitude,” such as simultaneously “giving Muslims too much and too little” attention.
Due to this discourse, he added, “I often no longer react to people who approach me on social media.” In conclusion, Asscher asked social media users to show the posts they intend to publish about him to their mothers or daughters before posting.
“If they also think it’s a good idea, go ahead and post,” he wrote.
