An anti-Semitic slogan has been painted in cow letters on a fence belonging to Itamar Kool and Eveline van Duyl in Westerwijtwerd. The text ‘NAM Jeude’, visible from the public road, is a reference to Kool’s Jewish roots.
Itamar Kool and Eveline van Duyl from Westerwijtwerd couldn’t believe their eyes. Last Tuesday afternoon around 12 noon, someone texted that a ‘disgusting text’ had been scrawled on their fence. Kool didn’t know anything about it, walked around their house and saw ‘NAM Jeude’ in large letters. “I was really quiet. I thought: well, hey.”
Under the text, the perpetrator has painted something that vaguely resembles a swastika. But someone from the municipality who called them on Tuesday told them that it looks more like the NAM logo.
The text is clearly directed against Kool, who is Jewish. Jeude is Groningen for Jew. He feels personally attacked. “This wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t been Jewish.”
He says that he has never felt discriminated against. “I’m still not afraid of discrimination. This action does not have that effect. But I can only conclude that this is an anti-Semitic statement.”
‘All these aspects could have aroused hatred, envy or envy’
Kool can only guess at the motives. “We have emerged from the reinforcement operation very well and have received a beautiful new house. That must be painful for those who still experience problems. We never did anything for that, other than having a good construction supervisor. We have just been very lucky, but many more have been.”
At the same time, Kool and Van Duyl live in a place that is very visible, at the beginning of Westerwijtwerd near the main road between Middelstum and Loppersum. The light, cube-shaped house differs significantly from the surrounding buildings. “Eveline and I may also deviate from the usual,” says Kool. He is a filmmaker, Van Duyl a visual artist. “All these aspects attract attention and may have aroused hatred, envy or envy.”
On the first day they saw the text, Van Duyl didn’t think it was that bad. “It was only on the second day that the seriousness really hit me.” I still find it annoying to “come home” alone in the evening. Van Duyl reported the incident immediately after the incident.
‘Now we are confronted with it ourselves’
Kool: “Anti-Semitic expressions: you read about it, you hear about it. And now we are confronted with it ourselves. The surprise about that is very strong. There are no other expressions in this environment that are comparable to it.”
The text is not easy to remove from the fence, which is made of cortens steel. Next Wednesday, Mayor Ben Visser of Eemsdelta will visit Kool and Van Duyl to share the horror about this outrage. Kool emphasizes that they react to it not only with dismay but also with humor. “Jokes are common here. We have already renamed our wailing wall a swearing wall.”