Amsterdam celebrity tour guide advises left-wing parties to kick out some Jews

Jan Tervoort, who was honored in 2012 by Amsterdam’s mayor, included a Jewish ex-lawmaker who doesn’t do pro-Israel work, critics said.

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AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A celebrated Dutch tour guide and columnist advised left-wing parties to kick out three Jews lest they weaponize anti-Semitism.

Jan Tervoort gave the advice Friday on Twitter to the Dutch Labour Party and D66.

Amid allegations of anti-Semitism against Tervoort, the pro-Palestinian The Rights Forum organization said it no longer prints his articles. Tervoort was last published on the Forum on July 7.

Tervoort, who has been featured in Dutch national-circulation media and in 2012 was honored by Amsterdam’s mayor for his historical knowledge, advised Labour to kick out “as a precaution” Ronny Naftaniel and Hanna Luden, past and present directors, respectively, of the Center for Information on Documentation on Israel, or CIDI.

He also advised D66 to expel Vink, a former Amsterdam City Council member. Unlike Luden and Naftaniel, Vink “was not involved with any pro-Israel groups,” Hidde van Koningsveld, policy officer at CIDI, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Tervoort’s tweet “reminds us of a dark period in history, when lists of Jews were kept to exclude them from various positions in society,” said van Koningsveld, who added that he intends to file a criminal complaint against Tervoort for incitement.

Tervoort made his tweet based on “what’s going on with British Labour,” he wrote.

Van Koningsveld called this “repugnant and a clear example of anti-Semitism disguised as ‘criticism of Israel.’”

Tervoort responded by saying that Vink “in core tactic and content follows the Israel Lobby’s informal network.” JTA also belongs to this network, Tervoort said.

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