The Rotterdam resident sent a total of five discriminatory emails to the Anne Frank Foundation between September and December 2024. In it he scolded the Jewish people for, among other things, ‘dirty murderers’, ‘liars’, ‘sick, disgusting cancer people’ and ‘hypocritical dogs and rats’. The foundation reported discrimination. The man was arrested in February last year and he confessed.
The court ruled today that the statements were insulting and incited to hatred against Jews. For example, the man wrote that ‘Jews owe this to themselves’, he expressed the hope that the Arab world ‘declares war on the Jews’ and he stated that Jews would be hypocritical about the Holocaust, ‘while they themselves are committing a genocide’.
According to the court, the man repeatedly created an ‘us versus them’ sentiment by stating that ‘both Muslims and Dutch hate Jews’. “In doing so, he repeatedly portrays the Jews collectively as the enemy of different groups.”
“Many regrets”
The suspect knew that the emails were offensive and incited to hatred, he stated. He allegedly sent the emails out of impulse and emotion, because of the violence in Gaza. He said he deeply regretted it and was deeply ashamed of it.
The court said it was understandable that the news about Gaza affected him, but it did not justify hateful messages about the entire Jewish people. Furthermore, ‘the Anne Frank Foundation cannot in any way be held liable for the violence taking place in Gaza’.
The sentence corresponds to the demand of the Public Prosecution Service.
