Following widespread public outcry, including pushback from HonestReporting, Dutch universities have announced they will — at least temporarily — suspend investigations into their and their faculty members’ connections to and interactions with Jewish and Israel-related organizations.
HonestReporting is now calling on Dutch authorities to launch a probe into the group that prompted the controversial inquiry.
The Rights Forum, which has apparent links to EU-designated Palestinian terror groups, had requested that 14 publicly-funded schools hand over “documents or information about the institutional ties… [they may maintain] with Israeli universities, institutions and companies, as well as organizations that propagate support for the State of Israel.”
The Rights Forum made its demand — known as a Wob request — based on the Netherlands’ 1991 freedom of information law.
Under Dutch law, not all freedom of information requests must be fulfilled. Indeed, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, advises that in “some cases your [freedom of information] request may be rejected, for instance for security reasons or if it concerns confidential data related to people or companies. Public authorities may refuse a request for information which is manifestly unreasonable.”
However, rather than immediately question whether divulging the information was appropriate or even legally permissible, some university administrators are said to have straight away started forwarding on details of the request to staff, including some Jewish employees.
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In a letter dated February 15 sent to all 14 institutions, a group of Dutch Jewish students urged the universities to reject The Rights Forum’s request. “We respect transparency, which the WOB provides,” they said in the missive, while qualifying that “it cannot be used as a tool to signal out and target one specific community for their religion and nationality. Jewish students not only feel left out but fear for their own safety.”
Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs compared the universities’ willingness to cooperate to the conduct of Nazi collaborators.
Following two sets of questions registered with parliament (see here and here), Universities of the Netherlands, an umbrella organization, published a follow-up statement on its website (Dutch). While it had previously stressed that “almost all universities are obliged to comply with publishing the requested information,” Universities of the Netherlands seemingly rolled back its earlier decision to abide by The Rights Forum’s initiative:
“The handling and distribution of the Wob request have led to feelings of unrest and unsafety within universities. We regret this. We stand for a safe educational, research and working climate for all our employees and students. We take signals that this has come into question as a result of our approach to the Wob request seriously and confirm that a careful assessment of the request is necessary. […]
All universities that fall under the Wob will ask for a postponement (or have already done so) from the person submitting the Wob request, The Rights Forum. This means that no further steps are now being taken to request, collect and/or send information that is requested in the Wob request.
The universities want to carefully consider whether and, if yes, how the request should be processed. This requires an assessment based on the Government Information (Public Access) Act, but also of broader legal frameworks and university principles like the safety of our employees and students, academic freedom, equal treatment and the prevention of discrimination. It will be examined whether cooperating with (parts of) the request would disproportionately disadvantage parties that are involved (Article 10g, sub 2 of the Wob [Act]).
Related Reading: Dutch Universities Move to Reveal Correspondences With Jews & Israel Supporters in Response to Demand By Pro-Palestinian Org With Possible Terrorism Ties
The Rights Forum’s Terror Links
It is important to note that The Rights Forum has the status of a “Public Benefit Organization” (ANBI) in the Netherlands, thereby providing it various tax benefits. To maintain this ANBI status, at least 90 percent of The Rights Forum’s activities must be focused on the public benefit, and the group needs to meet strict integrity requirements as defined in the State Taxes Act 1994 and other related regulations.
In our February 13 article, we highlighted a crucial issue that has received little attention: namely, that The Rights Forum seemingly maintains ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an organization defined as a terror group by the European Union.
For instance, in 2017, The Rights Forum launched a campaign calling for “freedom for Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Sa’afin” (Dutch). Khalida Jarrar is a member of the PFLP. She was most recently arrested in 2019, following a terror attack that claimed the life of 17-year-old Israeli Rina Shnerb.
Two years ago, after Brussels introduced a new requirement for obtaining public grants which prohibits recipients from working with organizations and individuals on the EU’s terror lists, The Rights Forum’s ELSC project “provided assistance” to the Palestinian NGO Network, which fought against the new stipulation.
PNGO is an umbrella organization of 142 Palestinian groups, many of which have documented ties to the PFLP.
Related Reading: European Union Quietly Suspends Funding to Palestinian NGOs, Months After Criticizing Israel Over Terror Designation
Meanwhile, one of The Rights Forum’s current board members, Liesbeth Zegveld, previously filed a criminal complaint against a company on behalf of Palestinian group Al-Haq, alleging the Dutch corporation was complicit in the “commission of war crimes” in reference to the construction of Jewish communities in the West Bank.
Al-Haq was among six Palestinian NGOs that were proscribed by Israel last year over their links to the PFLP. Last month, the European Commission suspended EU funding to Al-Haq.
Another of The Rights Forum’s board members — Theodora Siemons, also known as Dorien Ballout — has possible ties to Hamas, another EU-designated terror group. Siemons has, on several occasions, been photographed in the company of Amin Abu Rashed, who, according to experts, heads the Dutch branch of Hamas.
Israel’s Defense Ministry in 2013 designated Abu Rashed for his role in the operations of Hamas in Europe. According to Dutch analyst Kees Broer, Abu Rashed personally “honored” Siemons for her contributions to the “Palestinian struggle.”
HonestReporting has reached out to the Dutch tax authority and provided them with the facts needed to open an investigation. To read our letter, click here.
We encourage our readers to follow suit and contact The Netherlands’ Tax and Customs Administration by emailing [email protected]. Alternatively, you can take action by contacting @Belastingdienst on Twitter.
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Featured Image: Abdullah Asiran/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
