THE PERFECT VALENTINE'S DAY GIFT?

Mixed Message by SAM MUNSON (Contentions)

A Dutch nonprofit, send.a.message, is now offering a service whereby, for the low, low fee of 30 euros, a group of Palestinians will spraypaint whatever message you like (provided it’s not “obscene, offensive and extremist”) on their side of the security wall. Besides the generally exploitative nature of this project (the company’s website makes a point of how much economic damage the wall has done, which means, logically, that the Palestinian employees are bargaining for wages under constraint, right?) there’s a fair amount of, uh, paternalism involved. In their FAQ, the organization answers those worried about whether their haute bourgeois whimsy might put people in danger thusly:

Is it dangerous to spray on the Wall?

The ‘wallwriters’ in Palestine know the local circumstances well. Also realize: the situation on West Bank (within the Wall, where we work) is a lot more stable than in far away Gaza. However, ‘our’ Palestinians will never risk their lives to get your text on the Wall. Be sure of that.

“Our” Palestinians. You have to love the quotes around the word our. That’s right, Europe: now you can wash away three centuries of imperialism with irony-quotes! Sweet. Also, how ominous does this sound:

Where does the money go?

Part of your money stays in Holland, to cover the (minimal) costs of setting up and running ‘Sendamessage’. The bulk of the money will go to the Palestinian NGO’s (independent foundations) doing the work. They will fund small social, cultural and educational projects with the money earned (from buying bicycles to fixing the roof).

Will they buy weapons?

No, we work with organisations that are legal in Palestine and are allowed to work-also by the Israeli government. People we work with were found thanks to the network of ICCO, a large Dutch Christian NGO. The money overthere will be spent on small social, cultural and educational projects.

That fills me with confidence. Especially since

An independent board oversees and checks the activities of this registered charity Foundation, from Amsterdam, Holland. All financial matters are checked by an independent, registered financial controller.

Valentine’s day is about a month away. Place your orders now and get “our” Palestinians crackin’!

POLL: EUROPEANS INCREASINGLY HATE JEWS

Poll: Jews losing favor with Europeans (JTA)
A survey of six European countries found an increase in negative attitudes toward Jews.

The survey, conducted a month ago by the Anti-Defamation League in Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Holland, Switzerland and Britain, found favorable views of Israel on the rise and predominantly negative attitudes toward Iran and Hamas. But respondents said they had more sympathy for the Palestinians than for Israel, and negative attitudes toward Jews in general increased from a 2005 survey.

Approximately half the Europeans surveyed said Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own country, and more than a third said Jews have too much power in business and finance. A majority of respondents in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland said they believe American Jews control U.S. policy on the Middle East.

“More than a decade after the fall of communism, we hoped that such anti-Jewish attitudes would have begun to diminish rather than increase,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said.

Asked about boycotts against Israel by British-based groups, 43 percent of British respondents said they opposed the boycotts while 37 percent expressed support for them.

Among the six countries polled, anti-Semitic attitudes were found to be lowest among respondents from the Netherlands.

DUTCH GOVT. SUBSIDIZES ANTI-ISRAEL NGO

Dutch Government Subsidizes Anti-Israel NGO - Manfred Gerstenfeld (Jerusalem Post)
In 2001 the Dutch Roman Catholic NGO Cordaid, which is subsidized by the Dutch government, was indirectly involved in financing the largest anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate campaign of the 21st century, the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa. Recently it undertook another anti-Israel campaign jointly with Pax Christi, another pro-Palestinian Roman Catholic group.

52 INFLUENTIAL DUTCH CALL FOR RECOGNITION OF HAMAS

Coterie of Dutch anti-Semites attack Israel (JNW)
Fifty-two influential Hollanders have joined forces to try and pressure their country into recognizing the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority and into condemning Israeli "terrorism."

The 52 - which include former prime minister Dries van Agt and former foreign minister Hans van den Broek - put their signatures to a newspaper advertisment that appeared in a number of dailies in The Netherlands.

Its publication was timed to coincide with the visit to Israel this week of Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, who is reportedly to inform Israel of his country's desire to be more involved in the "Palestinian"-Israel diplomatic process.

According to reports, Van Agt demanded that Verhagen "denounce not only attacks by Palestinians on Israelis, but also terrorist actions by the Israeli occupation army, which result in the death of so many Palestinians."

Forty years ago, Holland was a strong supporter of Israel, with ordinary citizens going out of their way to support the Jewish state in its war of self-defense against Arab aggression.

Today, however, with one million Muslims in the country - and in the wake of a number of terrorist murders of Dutch citizens by Muslims - popular opinion is swinging increasingly against the Jews.

DID DUTCH FLY NAZIS TO ARGENTINA?

Did Nazis fly KLM?
KLM may seek an independent investigation into whether it flew Nazi fugitives to Argentina after World War II, the Dutch national airline said Tuesday. (Reuters)

HOLLAND REFUSES HAMAS TERROR LEADER ENTRY

Holland refuses to grant Haniyeh entry permit (YNet)
The Dutch government refused to grant Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh an entry permit on Monday. A spokesperson for the Dutch government said that "Holland will not grant Haniyeh a visa because the organization he represents is defined by the European Union as a terror organization."

SEE APRIL 13 POST: DUTCH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP INVITES HAMAS TERROR LEADER

DUTCH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP INVITES HAMAS TERROR LEADER

Dutch Human Rights Group Invites Hamas Terror Leader (LGF)

It's become a truism that any group with the words "Human Rights" in its title will stand for anything but. Here's a report from the Netherlands that a "human rights" group has invited Hamas kingpin Ismail Haniyeh to visit a conference in Rotterdam, to discuss wiping out Israel the "right of return." (Translated by Babelfish.)

The Palestinian premier Haniyeh probably comes to the Netherlands. He is on 5 May the head guest at a Palestinian - European conference in Rotterdam.

One of the initiators the Palestinian platform for human rights and solidarity is. The return of the Palestinian refugees is the head topic of the conference.

There for has been chosen consciously on 5 May keep the conference. The palestijnen want then with Dutch the release celebrate and they want that Dutch think then of palestijnen who live under Israeli bezetting. Haniyeh must get still a visa.

UPDATE at 4/13/07 3:38:18 pm:

A better translation from LGF reader Jonathan:

The Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh will probably be coming to the Netherlands. He will be the principal guest at a Palestinian-European conference in Rotterdam.

One of the initiators [of the conference] is the Palestinian Platform for Human Rights and Solidarity. The return of the Palestinian Refugees will be the primary theme of the conference.

It was a conscious decision to hold the conference on the fifth of May (the fifth of May being the day on which the Netherlands celebrates its liberation from Nazi Germany and commemorates its war dead, foremost among them the hundred thousand Dutch Jews who perished in the Holocaust). The Palestinians wish to celebrate the Netherlands' celebration together with the Dutch and they want them to think of the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Haniyeh still needs to obtain a visa.

ANNE FRANK'S CHESTNUT TREE FACES AX

Anne Frank's chestnut tree faces ax (CNN)
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Amsterdam's city council gave the owner of the chestnut tree that comforted Anne Frank while she was in hiding a license to cut it down. Opponents have six weeks to file an objection but that is seen as unlikely. The large, 150-year-old tree has been attacked by a fungus and is in danger of falling down.

The tree is familiar to some 25 million readers of "The Diary of Anne Frank." It stands in the courtyard of the "secret annex," the canal-side warehouse where her family hid during the Nazi occupation.

The Jewish teenager made several references to it in the diary that she kept during the 25 months she remained indoors until the family was arrested in August 1944.

"Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs," she wrote on Feb. 23, 1944. "From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind. ...

"As long as this exists, I thought, and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts I cannot be unhappy."

The city council ruled in November that it was a hazard. On Thursday, the council granted the owner of the tree, the house next door to the former warehouse, a license to cut it down. No date has been set.

The Anne Frank Museum, where the tiny apartment has been preserved, said grafts already have been taken and a sapling from the original chestnut will eventually replace it.

Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.