The investigated media, the state funded NOS Journaal TV news show and the leading daily NRC, together with many other media outlets in the Netherlands, continue to mislead the Dutch public as to the Middle East and Israel to this day. Some of the media even openly resort to incitement and publish outright lies.
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-4006155,00.html
Op-ed: Biased Dutch reporting on Arab-Israeli conflict leads to drastic rise in anti-Semitism Yochanan Visser Published: 12.29.10, 12:47 Former EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein's advice to recognizable Jews in the Netherlands to leave for the US or Israel caused quite an uproar two weeks ago. Even Israeli media picked up the story about Bolkestein's remarks, which were highlighted in a new book titled "Dutch Jewry in the clueless Netherlands." Bolkestein later clarified that his remarks were meant as a wake up call in light of the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. The author of the book, Manfred Gerstenfeld (JCPA) is a Dutch Israeli expert on European anti-Semitism. He wrote the book because he believes that the treatment of Jews in the Netherlands provides insight to the society as a whole. He also says that the situation in the Netherlands mirrors the problems of the Jews in other parts of Europe. However, a largely unnoticed remark by Bolkestein about the link between the rise in anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Arab conflict could offer more insight to the root cause of the current problem. The year 2000 marked the beginning of the second intifada and ever since most Dutch media have conducted a relentless disinformation campaign about Israel. It is this campaign that has changed the whole climate in which the debate about Israel in the Netherlands is taking place. In the resulting environment, Dutch Jews are held responsible for events taking place in Israel and ultimately it is no longer taboo to make anti-Semitic comments. The Dutch media succeeded in distorting the story about Bolkestein's remarks as well. Several headlines in news reports suggested that Bolkestein wanted the Jews out of the Netherlands. When interviewed about this, Gerstenfeld responded that the Dutch media misquoted Bolkestein's remarks in order to make him look bad because of his support for Israel. Dutch mainstream paper Trouw went to great lengths in order to prove Gerstenfeld and Bolkestein wrong when it published an article that presented recent data about anti-Semitism on the Internet. These data were meant to prove that native Dutchmen were responsible for most anti-Semitic incidents. Trouw also wrote that Gerstenfeld exaggerated the rise in anti-Semitism. The paper argued that the data - provided by MDI, a hotline for reporting racist incidents - showed only a slight increase in the incidents. However, Trouw omitted the fact that MDI refuses to act on a great number of reported anti-Semitic incidents because it uses an outdated definition of anti-Semitism. Trouw also ignored a recent report by the Center for Information and Documentation about Israel (CIDI) that presented clear evidence of the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Dutch society. Contemporary attitudes towards anti-Semitism by the Dutch people and government show the same indifference and ignorance. A Dutch blogger, Asher Ben Avraham reported that during the last Chanukah celebration, the new mayor of Amsterdam van der Laan, called on the Dutch Jews not to stir up their own fear. That sounded pretty much as if the Jews were responsible for the disasters that have befallen them. It also suggested that the fear for racist attacks is the result of a psychological problem. The Jewish leader of the Dutch socialist party PvdA Job Cohen came up with an even more disturbing idea about the problems with the Dutch Muslims. He compared their situation with the fate of the Dutch Jews during the beginning of the Nazi occupation. The well known Dutch rabbi Evers told the paper Algemeen Dagblad that he has stopped using the Amsterdam light rail after he became the victim of repeated verbal attacks. He also reported that there are no-go zones for Jews in Amsterdam. Evers is well known for his blunt observations about attitudes towards Jews in Dutch society. In a radio show in 2001, a Dutch caller attacked him over Israeli actions during Operation Defensive Shield. In response, Evers argued that even though the Dutch have the reputation of being a tolerant nation they are in fact not. He said that ever since Jews lived in The Netherlands they were officially treated as equals but in practice remained aliens. This largely explains the indifference towards the plight of the Jews in the Netherlands during World War II, he said. Some 75% of Dutch Jews were murdered by the Nazis. By now it is clear that Bolkestein's remarks were meant as severe criticism of the way the Dutch government is handling the rise in anti-Semitism. However, one important issue Bolkestein did not address was how exactly the link between anti-Semitism in the Netherlands and the Mideast conflict came into being. The recent CIDI study, however, clearly shows the link between events in Israel and the drastic increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands. CIDI recorded an explosion of anti-Semitic incidents during operation Cast Lead. The long term exposure to this sort of biased and distorted reporting seems to be the main reason why Muslim immigrants and native Dutchmen alike develop anti- Israel and in some cases anti-Semitic views. Dutch public opinion about Israel is after all largely based on the mainstream media reporting. Meanwhile, new Dutch foreign minister Rosenthal seems to have understood this link as well. In an interview with Elsevier magazine he said the Dutch government will work to resist Israel bashing. But that's not enough; Bolkestein's remarks should serve as the starting point of a discussion and reflection about contemporary anti-Semitism elsewhere in Europe as well. And last but not least, this should lead to an immediate end of foreign media collaboration with the forces who are conducting a cognitive war in order to achieve the demise of Israel. By now it is clear that this war has repercussions far beyond the borders of Israel. -------- The writer is the project manager of Missing Peace, a public diplomacy organization active in The Netherlands and Belgium Indifference and ignorance
Cognitive war
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