It is Monday, June 30, a day after singer Douwe Bob canceled his performance at the Jewish football tournament Jom HA Voetbal in Amsterdam because “Zionist posters and pamphlets” were present there. His impulsive decision grows into a national riot after De Telegraaf-Journalist Wierd Duk places a video on X of the speech that Douwe Bob gives for his abrupt departure (“” shame “does not cover the load for this permanent behavior,” is Duks commentary), and VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz responds with a fierce tweet in which she accuses the singer “.
Ewout Key Rameijer, manager of Douwe Bob, tries to defuse the crisis on Monday. Since the tweets from Duk and Yesilgöz, the singer has been flooded by hateful messages and threats. Part of it is so serious, as a group that calls itself the ‘Amsterdam Defense Force’ (ADF) and says to watch over the ‘culture of Mokum’, that according to Rameijer there is an urgent emergency situation. In messages on Instagram, people, including the foreman of the ADF, come and visit Douwe Bob at home: “Half K ** K*r Amsterdam wants your head on a sidewalk tile”.
Although Yesşilgöz wanted to take a position against anti -Semitism, her two -legs had grim consequences, according to a reconstruction based on conversations with those involved. Not only Douwe Bob was threatened, but also Jom HA football and some Jewish organizations that were present at the tournament. Both Jom HA Voetbal and the management of Douwe Bob did not want to respond.
On television, social media and in the newspapers it was soon no longer about Jom HA Voetbal and the decision of Douwe Bob, but about increasing anti -Semitism, the right to self -determination of Israel, and the devastating war in Gaza.
I walk away because they don’t stick to the appointment. And now I am sitting here, to convince everyone that I am not an anti -Semite
The media dynamics followed a well -known pattern: many Jews are afraid to get involved in the public debate, but also notice that there is hardly any place for their worries because the debate is almost always about political or polarizing themes.
The label ‘Jewish hater’
Sunday, almost immediately after Douwe Bob canceled his performance, Rameijer was called by the editors of the talk show Renze on Sundaywho has seen the tweets of Duk and Yesilgöz. The editors want Douwe Bob in the broadcast to let him respond to the commotion. According to a RTL spokesperson, the editors consciously choose not to invite Jom HA Voetbal for a debate “because the conversation about the events quickly became polarizing”. Rameijer hesitates whether it is a good idea to go into the invitation. But Douwe Bob is so stung by the ‘Jewish Hater’ label that he finds it necessary to tell his side of the story.
The singer emotionally explains why he decided to cancel his performance at the last minute. According to him, it was agreed with the organization that there would be “no religious or political expressions” at the event. “It is outrageous that a children’s party is hacked by political organizations,” he says. “I walk away because they don’t stick to the appointment. And now I am sitting here, to convince everyone that I am not an anti -Semite.”
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To emphasize the latter, the singer says that he performed last year during the opening of the new Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. “Normally I think: this will blow over. But if I am called the leader of the VVD for Jewish hater. That is just super dangerous, man. I am threatened with death.”
A family event
Jom HA Voetbal is an annual football tournament for Jews from all over Dutch society, which has been organized since 1980. Founders David Kleerekoper and OSI Lilian themselves came from different faiths: one was Liberal-Jewish, the other Orthodox. This year too, various Jewish groups participated: from Queer association J-Pride and the Orthodox Cheider to the Liberal LJG and Haboniem, a socialist-Zionist youth movement. The purpose of the tournament is to connect – by simply playing football.
That was also what Jom HA Voetbal had given to the bookers of Douwe Bob: this is a family event where everyone is welcome. The organization chose him because he had previously performed at Jewish events. In the booking contract there was nothing about political or religious expressions at the event, both parties say. However, Douwe Bob’s manager maintains that Jom HA Voetbal has made verbal commitments about this in advance – which denies the organization.
For the Jewish community, it is common for Zionist organizations to be present at the football tournament that express their solidarity with Israel or have a more political message. “Many Dutch Jews are attached to a safe Jewish home port and feel a personal relationship with Israel-through family, friends or history,” says Jacco, board member of the Liberal-Zionist youth organization Netzer Nederland, who does not want to be in the newspaper because of the sensitivity.
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For outsiders it is less obvious that pro-Israeli organizations have a stall at such an event, especially since the Gaza war. Support for Israel is also very sensitive in the music world. For example, a few Dutch artists cancel their performance on Zwarte Cross earlier this summer because the Achterhoek festival is owned by an American venture investor who puts money in Israeli settlements and arms manufacturers. At the British pop festival Glastonbury, the same weekend as Jom HA football fierce protests from artists against the war in Gaza are.
A lack of knowledge
Two hours before the performance, guitarist Stijn van Dalen and some crew members of Douwe Bob arrive on the site of Jom HA Voetbal for the sound check. Van Dalen has seen the words ‘Jom Ha’ – Hebrew for ‘Day of’ – and wrongly concludes that the tournament is all about Jom Ha Atsma’oet, the Israeli Independence Day.
The organization tries to reassure him by saying that the tournament is apolitical, but he continues to doubt. His attention focuses primarily on stalls from Jewish organizations such as Chabad, Netzer, BBYO, and Standwithus. Although only Standwithus is involved in political advocacy, the banner of Netzer in particular stands out: “Liberal-Jewish & Zionist youth association for young people aged 12 to 18 years!” Jom HA Voetbal receives a photo of this banner a little later via WhatsApp.
Douwe Bob is not yet on the site. He doubts whether he wants to come because he has difficulty with “the Zionist.” At 11:59 am the organization sends an app to manager Rameijer: “Everyone is welcome, no politics, no religion, family event. When he sees it, he understands.” At Renze on Sunday, Douwe Bob will later refer to this message. His manager insists that the event was presented by the organization as “football, family and Jewish”.
When Douwe Bob arrives fifteen minutes later, he will be given a tour. And he asks Netzer to remove their stall. But even before a conversation arises, Jom HA football intervenes. He then sees the rest of the site and is convinced of the familial character. “Come, we are going to play man,” he tells the organization.
In the meantime, Van Dalen searches online for the names of sponsors of the tournament and encounters organizations that do not like him. Eventually Douwe Bob and Van Dalen decide to cancel the performance. Because everything is already ready, Douwe Bob himself steps onto the stage to explain his decision: he does not want to play “because he is against Zionism.”
Zionist
The Jewish organizations that are present at Jom HA Voetbal also become the subject of discussion: are they Zionist? For critics, the term has become synonymous with the constant Israeli colonization and annexation of Palestinian land. But the Jewish organizations consist entirely of volunteers without media training, and have no public role in mind. “Jewish organizations such as Jom HA Voetbal and Netzer Nederland are not medium or political in nature,” says Jacco van Netzer. “I can’t speak on behalf of” the Jewish community “.
The anger about the war in Gaza is understandable, he says. “But that is not what Netzer’s Zionism is based on.” At the same time, there are also Jewish organizations in the Netherlands that do not embrace Zionism. Another Jewish sound, for example, sees the Jewish settlers on the occupied West Bank as the fascistoid face of Zionism.
It is an artist who made a stupid remark, walked away from the stage
Come to play football
In the meantime, it will remain remarkably quiet at the tournament on Sunday. The young people come to play football, not for Douwe Bob. “There was talk about it, but it is not that Jom HA football was stopped or that people were in turmoil,” says Garmy. “People just continued to play football.”
But that will be different after the tweets of Dilan Yesilgöz and Wierd Duk, and the broadcast of Renze on Sunday. After the broadcast, Jom HA Voetbal feels compelled to publish an explanation because the organization does not recognize itself in the story of Douwe Bob. The spirit is out of the bottle. Due to the threats, Douwe Bob is briefly moving abroad.
The singer is considering submitting an indictment against Yesilgöz due to defamation and defamation. But Rameijer talks to him by heart. According to him, it is a better idea to contact the VVD leader personally. He finds her e-mail address on the website of the Lower House. In an email, Rameijer Yesilgöz asks if she could nuance or remove her tweet because it led to death threats. According to him, there is acute danger.
Until Rameijer’s surprise, Yesilgöz responds fairly quickly. She writes that she is not willing to nuance or remove her allegation, and does not respond to his request to de-escalate. Instead, she places a new tweet in which she calls the threats “inadmissible”, but repeats her criticism of the singer and again – implicitly – relocates to anti -Semitism.
According to Garmy, many Jews do not feel represented by the fierceness with which the left and right react – often, he says, from political gain. He would have found it valuable if the decision of Douwe Bob had led to a constructive conversation with Pro-Palestinian people about what Zionism means, and what feelings that term evokes. “But that didn’t happen.”
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