A secretary of state in the Netherlands resigned on Friday to protest against racist remarks made, according to her, by one of her colleagues in the council of ministers. This departure did not break up the right-wing coalition in power, as some feared.
The Secretary of State for Finance, Nora Achahbar, “has decided not to stay” in her post, declared Prime Minister Dick Schoof after a crisis meeting Friday evening. “But as a government we have decided to continue together,” he added.
“There has never been the slightest racism in my government or within the coalition parties,” assured the Prime Minister.
Since July, Dick Schoof has been at the head of a coalition of four parties, the largest of which is the Freedom Party (PVV) of far-right leader Geert Wilders, which came first in the November 2023 legislative elections with 37 seats in the lower house of Parliament out of 150.
Ms Achahbar, a 42-year-old former prosecutor of Moroccan origin, is part of the New Social Contract (NSC), an anti-corruption party which has 20 seats in the lower house. His departure threatened the right-wing coalition with a breakup, in the event that other ministers decided to follow his example.
Maccabi fans hunted
According to Dutch media, she did not appreciate comments deemed racist made by one of her colleagues in the Council of Ministers after the violence against Israeli football supporters last week in Amsterdam.
We do not know the nature of these remarks and which minister made them. Previously, during a debate in Parliament, Geert Wilders – who like the other party leaders is not a member of the government but remained a simple deputy – had blamed the violence in Amsterdam on “Muslims” and ” Moroccans.
At the end of a crisis meeting which lasted all Friday evening in the official residence of the Prime Minister in The Hague, the NSC finally decided to remain in the coalition, which thus keeps its majority.
On the night of November 7 to 8, after a Europa League football match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv, supporters of the Israeli team were chased and beaten in the streets of Amsterdam. Isolated incidents broke out before the match, including the burning of a Palestinian flag and anti-Arab chants chanted by Maccabi supporters.
The investigation is still ongoing and many gray areas remain in the course of events. This violence occurred in a context of polarization in Europe, with a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic acts since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.
The Prime Minister, who described the violence against Israeli supporters as “anti-Semitic”, promised this week radical measures to combat anti-Semitism.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
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