(JTA) — Calling Israeli children “Zionist terrorists in training” and “future child murderers and occupiers” does not constitute incitement to hate, Dutch prosecutors said.
The Public Prosecution Service decided Wednesday not to prosecute Abdoe Khoulani, a city councilman in The Hague, on the basis of a criminal complaint filed against him over statements he made in May about schoolchildren from Israel who visited his city, the Telegraaf daily reported.
The service cited how Zionists are “indistinguishable” from other people by race, complexion or origins. Khoulani would have been prosecuted had he spoken about Jews, the service also said. Furthermore, the decision said, schoolchildren did not complain themselves against Khoulani, making it procedurally difficult to prosecute him for intending to cause them offense.
The youth movement of the Reformed Political Party, which hosted the visiting Israeli Young Ambassadors program in The Hague, filed the complaint with police against Khoulani for hate speech. Facebook has removed the post with his remarks.
But the prosecution service said it would prosecute Khoulani, who represents the Islamist Party of Unity and is Muslim, for repeatedly insulting Anneke Brons, who has defended Israel on social media and criticized his comment about the children.
In one message, he called Brons a “blonde bitch.”
Khoulani continued: “And you know what you should do, Anneke? You should leave the Netherlands immediately and go live in an Israeli colony. Happily steal Palestinian land and see Palestinian children being shot dead. That’s what you should do. You belong there. With the Zionist scum.”
Yanki Jacobs, a well-known local rabbi for Chabad on Campus, criticized the decision not to prosecute and called on other Jews to protest it.
“When the judiciary decides to allow such speech by an elected official, who calls children who happened to possess an Israeli passport murderers, we as Jews need to stand up and say that this is unacceptable,” he said.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
