by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
BARNEVELD, NETHERLANDS (Worthy News) – The mayor of the Dutch central city of Barneveld says he has received threats after pro-Palestinian protesters attacked a “Christians for Israel” event.
Jacco van der Tak wrote the municipal council that he would file a police report at a time of mounting antisemitism in the Netherlands and attacks against Christians supporting Israel.
In remarks seen by Worthy News on Thursday, a spokesperson said they could not comment further except that it involved the “mayor’s personal life.” In the memo to the council, Van der Tak wrote that the threat was made “in response to how the demonstration unfolded.”
Barneveld, located in the Dutch Bible Belt, is still reeling from the aftermath of attacks targeting a gathering organized by the “Christenen voor Israel” or “Christians for Israel” foundation in Barneveld. “Visitors literally had to walk through a gauntlet of protesters while being shouted at and called ‘child murderers.’ These slogans were amplified by a sound system blasting at deafening volumes,” Christians for Israel said in a statement.
Organizers said the event was held “in honor of Jerusalem Day,” which draws global attention to Jerusalem’s significance in the Jewish and Christian faiths.
Christians and Jews had come together to celebrate their connection to Israel and Jerusalem. They were to begin by singing Psalm 122: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure.”
However, witnesses said many never made it inside without first being confronted by “organized intimidation.”
MASKED PROTESTERS
Worshipers were met by protesters, many of them masked, affiliated with an Islamic group calling itself “Ummah voor Gaza” (Ummah for Gaza).
The activists blocked the entrance, laid down a blood-smeared Israeli flag, and placed fake bloodied baby dolls along the walkway near a small coffin, Worthy News observed.
They shouted “child murderer” and “Christians for genocide” at the arriving guests. “Visitors — including visibly Jewish participants — were forced to pass through this gauntlet of hate, some being spat on, others cursed and filmed,” noted Amanda Kluveld, an associate professor of Holocaust history at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Several Jewish participants later described the experience as a “grotesque echo of historical humiliation” — this time sanctioned by the Dutch state’s “refusal” to intervene. Uniformed police officers stood by and, at one point, were seen eating baklava with members of the protest group, Worthy News observed.
Mayor Van der Tak claimed that police intervened immediately when attendees had to walk through what was “an intimidating protest and over the bloodied Israeli flag to reach the venue.”
However, critics disputed this, and footage seen by Worthy News appeared to show the police’s reluctance to halt the perceived harassment.
The mayor referred to “brief violence” by “bystanders” who had shown up at the demonstration. “Again, police acted immediately,” the mayor said.
COUNTER PROTESTS
He spoke about a group of counter-protesters, reportedly local farmers opposing the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
According to witnesses, this led to confrontations between the two groups, with several scuffles breaking out and objects being thrown.
Reporters said a significant police presence was eventually restored, and one protester was injured during the disturbances. So far, no arrests have been reportedly made, prompting the Christian parties Christian Union and SGP to submit parliamentary questions.
Yet this was no isolated incident. Last month, Dutch pastor Oscar Lohuis was attacked in the Dutch city of Lelystad, where Christians attending a pro-Israel prayer service were temporarily held hostage in their place of worship “for their own safety,” authorities confirmed.
Earlier this month, in the town of Katwijk, there was a clash between pro-Palestine protesters and residents outside a church where Christians for Israel prayed for the Jewish nation.
Last week in the town of Nijkerk, at a Christian for Israel meeting in a building where a wedding was also taking place, police told worshipers that demonstrators “have guaranteed that they do not want to use physical violence.” However, the elderly audience was warned by a police officer to “certainly do not make eye contact” when going outside, Worthy News witnessed.
Back in Barneveld, this week’s protest was directed at anyone — Jewish or Christian — “who dares to feel connected to Israel, spiritually, historically, or morally,” noted Kluveld.
EXPLICIT MESSAGE
This was made explicit by Ummah for Gaza’s social media message after the event: “If you support the genocide in Gaza, you must undergo the walk of shame imposed by Ummah for Gaza.”
Support for Israel, even through prayer, is now treated as moral criminality, said Kluveld.
“This logic is not limited to fringe groups. It now echoes in the actions of institutions,” she stressed.
“Because increasingly, it is not only Israel that is being demonized — it is the people who stand with Israel, who sing for it, who pray for it, who mourn with it. That is what makes this moment so dangerous,” the professor added.
She received death threats for speaking openly at universities about the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, in which at least six million Jews perished, and other Israel and Jewish themes.
Kluveld noted that the breeding ground for growing antisemitism and hatred toward Christians supporting Israel began at universities.
“At Dutch universities, those who report antisemitism and anti-zionism are labeled as disruptive, dangerous, or disloyal,” she recently wrote. “Not the aggressors — but the whistleblowers. Hatred is tolerated. Silence is rewarded. Naming it becomes treason.”
‘LEAVE CITY’
Additionally, in July 2024, during a quintessentially Dutch civic tradition known as the “Vierdaagse” — a four-day walking event involving tens of thousands — a small group reportedly monitored the crowd for “Zionist symbols or markers.”
Kluveld cited multiple witnesses as saying that “anyone visibly connected to Zionism would be asked to leave the city.”
And with violence spreading and now targeting pro-Israel Christians, the once-liberal Netherlands is under pressure to act.
Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-Islam Partij Voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) or PVV, has linked the violence in part to the growing influx of extremist Muslims into the country.
Critics have accused him of singling out about 1 million Muslims in the country of 18 million, charges he denies.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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