Dutch Zionist Christians defy labeling with ‘Made in Israel’ warehouse - by Cnaan Liphsiz

A Christian Zionist businessman in Amersfoort, some 25 miles east of Amsterdam, Karel van Oordt sought to strengthen the Jewish state economically by purchasing its exports to feed his family of eight. But it wasn’t easy. “At the greengrocer, my father asked for Jaffa oranges, but they didn’t offer those,” Pieter van Oordt recalled. “Then at the liquor store, dad asked for Israeli wines. Same reply.” Four decades later, those Israeli goods and thousands more are available across the Netherlands thanks to the international advocacy group founded by Karel van Oordt in 1979. 

Pieter van Oordt, left, with his brother,
Roger, at the Israel Products Center in
Nijkerk, the Netherlands, Feb 19, '16.
 (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)

Cnaan Liphsiz..
Times of Israel..
10 March '16..

JKERK, Netherlands (JTA) — As a boy, would often accompany his father, Karel, on the elder van Oordt’s weekly shopping excursions specifically seeking out products made in Israel.

A Christian Zionist businessman in Amersfoort, some 25 miles east of Amsterdam, Karel van Oordt sought to strengthen the Jewish state economically by purchasing its exports to feed his family of eight. But it wasn’t easy.

“At the greengrocer, my father asked for Jaffa oranges, but they didn’t offer those,” Pieter van Oordt recalled. “Then at the liquor store, dad asked for Israeli wines. Same reply.”

Four decades later, those Israeli goods and thousands more are available across the Netherlands thanks to the international advocacy group founded by Karel van Oordt in 1979. Pieter and his brother, Roger, have run Christians for Israel since their father’s death in 2013.

Through its own import agency, the Israel Products Center, or IPC, the organization brings in 120,000 bottles of Israeli wine each year, as well as many tons of Dead Sea cosmetics and other merchandise. Most of the products are sold in IPC’s own store, on its website or by a corps of 200 volunteer door-to-door sales agents, a majority of them women.

The effort is unique in Europe, and not only because IPC profits are distributed annually among a small group of shareholders who reinvest the money back into the business. Also because IPC openly promotes the sale of settlement goods, part of a conscious effort to bolster the settler movement and push back against European efforts to distinguish them from goods produced in Israel proper.

Last month, Pieter van Oordt, who runs IPC, wrote a letter to his customers recommending they purchase two brands of wine, dates and olive products produced in the West Bank.

“Now the government wants to say on our products that they’re not from Israel,” said Pieter van Oordt, referring to the adoption in November of EU regulations mandating that goods produced in Israeli settlements are labeled as originating in Palestinian territory. “So we must tell our customers that it’s not true.”

Most IPC customers probably agree with van Oordt. The company’s most dedicated patrons are ideological supporters of the Christians for Israel movement, which is popular among European Protestants who believe it is their religious and moral duty to help Jews return to their ancestral lands.

The sin of omission and the Dutch Media's embrace of it.

Manfred Gerstenfeld..
Times of Israel..
27 April '13..

About 5 million Dutch people believe that Israel is committing genocide. So says a study by the University of Bielefeld in Germany. The researchers asked 1,000 Dutchmen whether Israel is running a war of extermination against the Palestinians. More than 38 percent of those interviewed answered in the affirmative.

I wrote an article about these widely held beliefs, which resemble the dark anti-Semitic views propagated during the Middle Ages. I sent it to two Dutch newspapers. Both refused to print it. It was then published on one of the Netherlands’ largest blogs, Dagelijkse Standaard. This blog is also read by journalists from the major Dutch papers, yet they did not publish anything on the study. Only a small Christian internet radio station, Pillar of Fire, whose editor was shocked by the report’s findings, contacted me for an interview.

Many major Dutch media publish trivial items about Israel, as long as they are sufficiently negative. Both the abject belief of about 5 million Dutchmen and the media’s silence on the extreme hatred of Israel reflect aspects of what is radically wrong with Dutch society. However, I received some private reactions. Several were from whitewashers who said the findings were wrong. They ignored not only this German study, but also a 2003 Eurobarometer study which found that 59 percent of Europeans thought that Israel was the largest threat to world peace. The percentage in the Netherlands was the highest among EU countries at 74 percent.

When a Government is Fueling Anti-Semitic Feelings

Allowing taxpayers' money to flow once again to websites such as Electronic Intifada, which propagate anti-Semitism, would be a clear indication not only of the Dutch government's unwillingness to fight anti-Semitism, but of its willingness to support it.

Peter Martino..
Gatestone Institute..
20 March '13..

Last November, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, leader of the Dutch Liberal Party, exchanged his coalition partners, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Party, for the Labor Party. Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, a Liberal, was replaced by Labor politician Frans Timmermans.

Uri Rosenthal had opposed anti-Israeli reports by the European Union and the United Nations, urged the EU to isolate Hezbollah, and had the Dutch government cut its funding of NGOs that deny Israel's right to exist and that fund and advocate boycott, divestment and sanction [BDS] activities, aimed at pressuring Israel to end its "occupation" of so-called Palestinian land.

In 2010, Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, launched an international campaign to end the sale of produce from Jewish settlements in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem.

The present Rutte government argues that labeling products from Judea and Samaria as made in Israel is misleading. According to the Dutch government, the area, which it refers to as the West Bank, is Palestinian territory occupied by Israel; the same applies to East Jerusalem.

Although there are literally scores of territories under dispute -- including Northern Cyprus, Gibraltar, Taiwan, the Falkland Islands, the Sakhalin Islands, Tibet, Kurdistan, Kashmir, Ossetia and the Western Sahara, as well as countless lesser-known areas -- Frans Timmermans, the new Dutch Foreign Minister, is a supporter of the BDS movement against only Israel. Last week, Timmermans told the Dutch Parliament that the label "Made in Israel" had to be removed from all products sold in the Netherlands that come from Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. So far, the labeling guidelines are not a legal requirement but a recommendation only. Nevertheless, Timmermans will be lobbying the EU to turn his recommendation for labeling into binding EU policy.

With its new policy, the Dutch government comes out in support of pressuring a fellow democracy, Israel. Israel might well wonder why, after four wars against it (1947, 1956, 1967, 1973), and decades of being shelled by missiles, mortars and rockets, it should continue to hold -- seemingly in perpetuity -- land for adversaries that are not only sworn to it destruction, but who even refuse to negotiate -- just in case one day their adversaries might feel like negotiating, as they are internationally and bilaterally legally obligated to do. Instead, Hamas has simply continued to advocate Israel's destruction, and the Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank, has tried to short-circuit its legal obligations by having the United Nations hand the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank all that it wants, free of cost.

A Courageous Politician, A Defender of Israel, Europe's Loss

Peter Martino..
Gatestone Institute..
12 November '12..

It is easy to forget that Israel fights a defensive war 365 days a year. And that its enemies never grant the Jewish state a moment of peace. Last month saw a significant increase in the number of terrorist attacks: 166 as opposed to 91 in the previous month. The attacks include rocket launching and mortal shelling from Palestinian territories, gun shootings, stabbings, explosions and firebombs. Even the threat of nuclear annihilation is increasing as Iran develops a bomb.

Especially Europeans, who live in the illusion that the whole world will remain in peace if unprovoked by the West, have little consideration for the situation Israel is in. One of the few European politicians who understood Israel's plight was Uri Rosenthal, the previous Foreign Minister of the Netherlands.

Mr. Rosenthal was born in Switzerland in 1945 of Jewish parents who had fled the Netherlands from German occupation. As his wife is Israeli-born and two of his sisters live in Israel, Mr. Rosenthal has an intimate knowledge of the situation in the Jewish state. As such, he was a much needed voice in the international community. He opposed anti-Israeli reports by the European Union and the United Nations, urged the EU nations to isolate Hezbollah, and at home in the Netherlands he had the Dutch government cut its funding of NGOs that deny Israel's right to exist.

During his stay at the helm of the Dutch Foreign Ministry, Mr. Rosenthal did not have an easy time. Many of the civil servants and diplomats at the Ministry opposed his policy on Israel. They advised the Minister to take positions more in line with the pro-Palestinian positions of the EU and the international community. The Minister courageously persevered. The situation was so bad that, according to the Dutch media, Secretary-General Ed Kronenburg, the highest civil servant at the Ministry, even refused to pick up the phone when the Minister called.

Martino - Dutch Government Opposes Anti-Israeli EU Report

Peter Martino..
Stonegate Institute..
20 March '12..

One hopes the EU leaders, like Sarkozy, will soon notice that a more realistic approach to Israel — in line with that of the Dutch — is in the national security interests of Europe.

The European Union, the supranational organization of the 27 most developed European nations, is one of the most outspoken and frequent international critics of Israel. Its reports on the situation in the Middle East are often so unfair and biased that not only have they drawn the ire of Israel, they have also angered the government of one of the EU's six original founding states, the Netherlands, which no longer wants to endorse the reports emanating from the EU mission in Ramallah.

Neumann - Dutch Fund West Bank “Settlers” Game that Incites Anti-Semitism

Jonathan Neumann..
Commentary/Contentions..
15 March '12..

From the seemingly harmless country of cycling enthusiasts, windmills, and those little wooden shoes nobody understands, comes the latest in a string of nefarious and anti-Semitic episodes, as a self-described liberal-Protestant Dutch website, VPRO, marketed an online game based on the popular board game ‘‘The Settlers of Catan.’’

Apparently, ‘‘The Settlers of the West Bank’’ was conceived and defended as ‘‘satire,’’ despite the overtly politicized idea behind the game, and the numerous, obviously insensitive features, including the ‘‘Jewish stinginess,’’ ‘‘Wailing Wall,’’ and ‘‘Anne Frank’’ cards. Allusion is also made to the ‘‘typical mercantile spirit’’ of the Jewish nation, and, according to the Jerusalem Post, the ‘‘settler’’ may also use the ‘‘Mahmoud Ahmadinejad card’’ to avoid losing resources to a terrorist and simultaneously draw resources from other players. The ‘‘Anne Frank House’’ is a ‘‘winning point’’ for the settler.

Anti-Israel Website Indirectly Funded by Dutch Government

Alana Goodman
Contentions/Commentary
28 November '10

The next time you come across an Electronic Intifada article alleging some devious Israeli plot to annex Palestinian olive groves, direct your eye-rolls toward The Hague. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Dutch government may have been unwittingly helping to finance the radical anti-Israel website for years.

The Post reported Friday that the Electronic Intifada is funded by the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation, which is apparently being subsidized quite heavily by the Dutch government and the European Union:

The Dutch government has been funding the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation, a Dutch aid organization that finances the Electronic Intifada website that, NGO Monitor told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, is anti-Semitic and frequently compares Israeli policies with those of the Nazi regime.

NGO Monitor’s exposure of Dutch government funding for the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) prompted Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal to say on Thursday, “I will look into the matter personally. If it appears that the government subsidized NGO ICCO does fund Electronic Intifada, it will have a serious problem with me.”

The Post reports that the Dutch government provided €124 million to the ICCO in 2008, which the NGO Monitor says makes up 90 percent of the group’s budget. The European Union reportedly contributed another 6 percent.

(Read full post)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Dutch government supports hate-Israel site

Fresnozionism.org
25 November '10

Ali Abunimah is a dedicated anti-Israel activist. His website, Electronic Intifada, is widely read (US traffic rank around 106,000) and linked to (more than 2000 sites). Abunimah gives speeches, appears on panels and is often quoted on the radio. He claims to have met Barack Obama numerous times, and is responsible for this notable quote:

As he came in from the cold and took off his coat [Chicago, 2004], I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, “Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I’m hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.” He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, “Keep up the good work!” — Ali Abunimah

By the “3D test” of Natan Sharansky — Demonization, Double Standards, Delegitimization — or by the European Union’s working definition of antisemitism, Abunimah’s website and many of his remarks are antisemitic. Here is what NGO Monitor wrote about Electronic Intifada:

…the organization known as Electronic Intifada is very active in BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] efforts, routinely abusing terms like “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing.” Nigel Parry, a cofounder of EI, conflates victims of terror with terror leaders, and justifies Palestinian mortars fired into Israeli settlements by stating: “The dilemma in which the Palestinians find themselves is like that of a man who, falsely imprisoned for most of his life and demonized by society, finds himself in a dark room being raped by a highly decorated prison guard, when… he suddenly notices a rocket launcher lying within reach.” Parry also compared Israel’s targeted killing of Hamas head Ahmed Yassin to a “bus bombing.”

EI’s other founder, Ali Abunimah, who appears on many campuses to promote BDS, calls for a one-state solution, meaning the elimination of Israel. Abunimah also compares Israel to Nazi Germany, referring to the Israeli press as “Der Sturmer.”

All this activity is expensive. Where does the money come from? Surprisingly (or not), a great deal of it comes from a Western liberal democracy:

(Read full post)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Oxfam Novib distributes Dutch gov’t funding to HRW, PCHR, and Adalah

NGO Monitor

13 August 2009

Oxfam Novib in the Netherlands receives nearly €130 million annually from the Dutch government – approximately 70% of this NGO’s budget – primarily via co-financing subsidies (2007, 2008). And from here, the funds are distributed to a number of highly politicized NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict. For example, Oxfam Novib partnered with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) on a “lawfare” project (funded by the EU), designed to “[c]ontribute to the abolition of the death penalty...via extrajudicial executions” by the Israeli military. PCHR has led the “prosecution of Israelis suspected of committing war crimes” such as the “universal jurisdiction case in Spain.” Oxfam Novib also lobbied “EU ministers of Foreign Affairs to shelve the plans for intensifying relations between Europe and Israel.”

In 2007-8, Oxfam Novib donated $987,818 to Human Rights Watch (HRW) – which makes the Dutch government one of HRW’s major donors, and is inconsistent with this NGO’s claim that it “accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly.” In addition to HRW and PCHR, Oxfam Novib also funds Adalah, an Israeli-Arab NGO that was centrally involved in preparing a pseudo-academic publication entitled “Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid?: A re-assessment of Israel´s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law.”

The discovery of the close links between Oxfam Novib and the Dutch government comes after the exposure of Holland’s funding for the activities of the NGO “Breaking the Silence.” According to Ha’aretz, the embassy in Tel Aviv provided €19,995 for a report based on anonymous claims alleging human rights violations by the Israeli army, without the knowledge of the Dutch Foreign Minister. (The Jerusalem Post reported the amount as €19,999.) If the amount had been €20,000 “it would have required approval from The Hague,” perhaps due an effort to hide this embassy initiative from officials in the Netherlands.

.