Frits Barend finds it inexcusable what Johan Derksen said about Jews in his talk show Today Inside. “That is a typical, clear example of anti-Semitism.”
The statements that Johan Derksen made shortly after the bloody attack in Israel are very bad, not only among viewers, but also among politicians. The football analyst was reprimanded yesterday in his own program and swallowed his most offensive statement, namely ‘that the Jews kind of asked for it’.
Frits is angry
Frits Barend finds what Johan said unforgivable, he says in the podcast Right through the Campaign. According to him, it is incredibly harmful and generalizing. “Yes, the Jews, yes. That’s my grandson!”
Frits thinks that people often point to the Jews. “The Jews, we always say, that’s also an old joke: it’s the Jews’ fault? No, from the cyclists! Then they say: ‘Why the cyclists?’ And I feel that yesterday with Johan Derksen’s comment. It’s the Jews again…”
‘I do not know him’
Does Frits know Johan? “Luckily I hardly know him. No, not really good. I haven’t had much to do with him. I even saved him in Argentina when he didn’t stand up during the national anthem of one of the countries and I spoke Spanish and he was taken from the stands. But anyway, that’s besides the point.”
Johan has given up on Frits. “That is a typical, clear example of anti-Semitism. They are ‘the Jews’. They are not the Israelis, but now suddenly we are ‘the Jews’. That is a form of anti-Semitism. The Jews… What’s in it for me… I mean, I live here. There are also Jews living in Argentina.”
No hate
What Johan said simply cannot be justified, says Frits. “You know the definition of an anti-Semite, right? Someone who has an exaggerated hatred for Jews. (…) And I also want to say that: I don’t hate Palestinians. I don’t hate Palestinians. They also have the right to a good life.”
Frits is also angry with Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, who refused to hoist the Israeli flag or fly the Dutch flag at half-mast. “He has shown his inhumanity. He did not dare to hang up a flag.”
‘Dilan is human’
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz has risen in his regard, says Frits. She defended Israel in the talk show Op1. “I think Dilan Yesilgöz really did this from her heart. It is not the VVD politician speaking here, but the politician as I know her. She speaks from her heart. You can’t learn this.”
Dilan also wanted to join us on Today Inside last night, Wilfred Genee revealed in the broadcast on SBS 6. “She also offered to come to our table to discuss the situation with Johan and Israel. Maybe that’s already a bit in election mode?”
It is unclear why Dilan was ultimately not welcome.