City Leaders Need to Wake Up

The Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema was a ghostly figure as she took to the podium in front of the press on the morning of Nov. 8. The previous night, the tranquil canals of the old city of Amsterdam were turned into scenes of a violent pogrom, as young men hunted Jews and kicked them senseless in the streets. This was a nightmare the mayor could never imagine would happen in her beloved city. And yet it did.

Make no mistake it was no spontaneous outburst of soccer violence, which was once the hallmark of the European game. Today soccer is largely a family affair.

The perpetrators were not present at the soccer game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch soccer team Ajax. Instead, they lay in wait coordinating their movements, ready to hunt Jews, like a pack of wild dogs. They were looking for Maccabi soccer shirts, and Israeli flags, Hebrew accents.

Amsterdam prides itself on its liberal values. I have been there many times before and admire its open-minded people. They legalized cannabis in 1976 and have had laws to protect its voluntary sex workers since 2000. It is an international city that strives to welcome all.

Despite the external sheen, there has always been a darker side. Nazi Germany rightly took the blame for the murder of Holland’s Jews during the Holocaust. Once they had left, the Dutch told stories of resistance, and the courage of its citizens, many of whom hid Jews. But there is another story to tell.

It is little known that 75% of Dutch Jews were murdered, compared to 25% in France and only 1% in their near neighbors Denmark. How so? Dutch collaborators. Lots of them. The Germans had no idea where to look for the many Jewish families hiding in the rabbit warren of canal side warehouses. The Dutch knew.

No wonder the Mayor of Amsterdam was reeling. History was coming back to reveal that her city is not all it appears to be.

This is not meant as a dis on Amsterdam. I love my Dutch friends. The point is this — if Jew hunting can happen in Amsterdam, it can happen anywhere.  Amsterdam has more than a fair share of antisemitic Muslims, but cities the world over have similar populations simmering with anger and disaffection. If we think we are immune from such behavior, we are very much mistaken.

In December, the city of Beverly Hills is to play host to a summit of over 300 mayors from across the USA. The Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism is in its fifth year and is convened by Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) to equip American mayors across the country with policies, tools and the knowledge they need to work more closely with city officials, law enforcement officers, educators and Jewish community leaders to prevent the spread of antisemitism in our local neighborhoods.

I was discussing the goals of the summit with Chairman of the CAM Advisory Board, Natan Sharansky in Beverly Hills on Nov. 7. Sharansky, a former Soviet refusenik who served in several Israeli governments, explained that our national government has too many layers of bureaucracy to be effective at a local level. He emphasized why our local mayors are the key. “City mayors are incentivized to keep their cities safe for all their citizens. It matters much more to them and they can get things done.” Little did we know as we chatted by the fireside, that at that very moment, Israeli Jews were running for their lives in the streets of Amsterdam.

Lisa Katz, CAM’s Chief Government Affairs Officer and a former mayor herself, reminded me, “When antisemitic incidents occur, they ripple through our communities and well beyond, fueling fear and division. It is mayors who stand at the frontline of this battle.” The Mayors Summit, which was planned long before the events in Amsterdam unfolded last week, now takes on even shaper relevance and urgency.

Sharansky is right, global antisemitism is a local matter. We need not be afraid of the mob if we stand together. But first we need to recognize, there is a potential mob lurking in every city, whenever conditions are ripe.

We need not be afraid of the mob if we stand together. But first we need to recognize, there is a potential mob lurking in every city, whenever conditions are ripe.

Our mayors strive to serve us every day.  Wherever you are in the country, take a moment to thank your mayor for their service, and urge them to participate in the Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in Beverly Hills in December, lest they end up with the same ignominious fate as Femke Halsema.

For more information about the Beverly Hills summit see: https://mayors.combatantisemitism.org/summit

Stephen D. Smith is founder of Memory Workers and CEO of Breaking Through Initiative.