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Nov 9, 2026, 6:43 AM

The Netherlands and Antisemitism: The Betrayal Behind the Friendly Face

How a Country Once Considered One of Israel’s Closest European Friends Allowed Hostility Toward the Jewish State to Become Increasingly Normalized For decades, Israel regarded the Netherlands as one of its most reliable friends in Europe. In the 1970s and...

Nov 7, 2026, 9:35 AM

You Reap What You Sow, The Netherlands

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk ( AI)

When a Nation Normalizes Hatred, It Should Not Be Surprised When Terror Comes Knocking On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed one of the most barbaric massacres of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, slaughtered families...

Nov 5, 2026, 11:16 PM

The Amsterdam Pogrom, two years later

On the second anniversary of the pogrom of Amsterdam, I am glad to announce that the problems have been mostly “resolved.” For instance, the next match against an Israeli football club has to be played without Israeli fans. After...

Oct 3, 2026, 10:52 AM

Before You Lecture Israel, Look in the Mirror

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk ( AI)

Before You Lecture Israel, Look in the Mirror There is something increasingly difficult for me to accept when I listen to governments across Europe and beyond lecture Israel about colonialism, stolen land, occupation, violence and even genocide. It is not...

Sep 29, 2026, 6:47 AM

The Decline of the Western World, or Is It the End of the World?

Photo Credits: Sabine Sterk ( AI)

There are moments in history when change happens gradually, almost invisibly, and there are moments when you can actually feel the foundations of society shifting beneath your feet. Looking at the world today, at the wars, the polarization, the...

Eliyahu V. Sapir

Sep 15, 2026, 11:47 AM

The seat at the table

TL;DR: The most misleading seat at the table is the one offered after the table has already been set. Jewish leaders can mistake access for influence, surrendering leverage while giving institutions legitimacy in return. The real question is not...

Eliyahu V. Sapir

Sep 5, 2026, 5:42 PM

The face and the voice

TL;DR: Europe knows what to do with a Jewish face in a photograph: name it, mourn it, preserve it, learn from it. A Jewish voice is harder. It can disagree with the lesson, demand protection in the present, and...

Eliyahu V. Sapir

Aug 31, 2026, 5:21 PM

The signal in the bottle

TL;DR: The Dutch government’s new prohibition on goods from Israeli settlements is built on precision: legal consequences attach to a specific territorial relationship. Yet the same measure is also intended to send a wider political signal. That matters in...

Lauren Gladstone

Aug 14, 2026, 8:21 AM

Can You Belong to a Place You’ve Never Lived?

Above the orignal entrance to "De Dierense Shul". Photo taken by the author

I have never prayed in the synagogue in Dieren, the Netherlands. I don't know the rabbi. I've never attended a Shabbat service there or celebrated a holiday with its congregation. I don't receive its emails or know the people...

Eliyahu V. Sapir

Jul 27, 2026, 12:39 PM

When the Holocaust becomes evidence against Jews

TL;DR: Frans Timmermans presents himself as a defender of complexity, historical responsibility, and European political maturity, yet abandons all three when judging Israel. He transfers the language of Jewish existential danger to the Palestinians, recasts Israeli extremists as "we...

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