Frits Bolkestein strikes again

De Volkskrant reports on the storm of criticism prompted by former European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein who remarked that Dutch Orthodox Jews should consider "emigrating to the United States or to Israel," because there is “no future for them” in the Netherlands. The daily explains that the remarks were quoted in a book on the Jewish community in the Netherlands by researcher Manfred Gerstenfeld, Het Verval (The Decline), and later repeated in an interview with the daily De Pers. The ex-leader of the Dutch VVD party bases his opinion on what he perceives as the threat to Dutch Jews posed by the Netherlands’ supposedly poorly integrated and anti-Semitic Moroccan community. It is not the first time that Bolkestein, who gave his name to the EU directive on the internal market for services has sparked controversy, adds De Volkskrant. His recent statements have been widely reported by the Israeli press, which also cites the reaction of populist leader Geert Wilders, currently on a visit to Israel: "it is the anti-Semitic Moroccans who should emigrate."