Abdoe Khoulani

The 28-member student delegation was made up of 16-year-old studebts from the Hen School for Young Ambassadors. They arrived in the Netherlands last week as guests of Kees van der Staaij, a Dutch parliamentarian from the SGP party.

Abdoe Khoulani’s remarks about the students have caused a political uproar in the Netherlands, with parliament members attacking him over his comments.

Additionally, Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands, Aviv Shir-On, sent a strong letter of protest to the Mayor of The Hague, Pauline Krikke, in which he wrote, “The 16-year-old Israelis came to Hollande in order to promote friendly relations between the countries, to meet with Dutch youth and conduct dialogue and form friendly relations.

“To call them murderers and claim they have Palestinian blood on their hands just because they are Israeli is not just a scandal, it is absolutely unacceptable. These words are nothing but anti-Israel incitement that can lead to violence that we have unfortunately seen in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Manchester and London.”

Israeli delegation meeting Kees van der Staaij

Krikke refused to respond to Khoulani’s comments, despite the fact this is not the first time Khoulani has made controversial statements. In 2014, the outspoken councilman also made comments supporting ISIS, saying “Long live ISIS! If Allah wills it, we will go to Baghdad to reckon with the scum there.”

The CIDI, which works to monitor anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, is exploring legal action against Khoulani.

Shai from Rishon Lezion, one of the young ambassadors who participated in the delegation, said, “It is disappointing to discover that when we, Israel’s youth, come as a delegation without political interests to promote friendly relations with Dutch youth, we encounter a sad barrier of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel.”

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)