On August 6, Dutch filmmaker of Palestinian descent Sakir Khader announced that his second film on the Arab-Israeli conflict is slated to be released by the end of this year. Initial footage shows Khader, who works for the Netherlands’ VPRO public broadcaster, glorifying violent rioters from the Palestinian village of Beita in the Samaria region of the West Bank.
Khader’s anti-Israel track record gives rise to serious concerns that the journalist will utilize public funds to incite more hatred against the Jewish state. On social media, Khader has for months tried to portray the antisemitic radicals from Beita in a positive light. He repeatedly hailed them as “brave people” and described Hamas terrorists as “martyrs,” while calling Beita “the frontline against injustice.”
Even after the Dutch government strongly condemned the genocidal antisemitism espoused by the Palestinian rioters, including the burning of an effigy of an Orthodox Jew, the VPRO filmmaker on Twitter continued to praise what he called “the revolting town” of Beita.
My beloved homeland. Through the lens of my old Hi8 camcorder. pic.twitter.com/1PsA4U80sw
— Sakir Khader (@sakirkhader) September 3, 2021
Related Reading: HonestReporting Exclusive Prompts Dutch Government to Call on Palestinian Authority to End Support for Antisemitic Riots
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First, a recap of HonestReporting’s previous investigation into on issue (see here, here, here, here and here). For over 150 days, Palestinians from Beita, a town south of Nablus, have caused major damage in the area. Between May and August 2021, “popular resistance units” reportedly burned over 80,000 tires, seriously damaging the environment and posing a grave health threat to West Bank residents – Arabs and Jews alike.
By creating toxic smoke clouds, in addition to employing so-called “night confusion” tactics first developed by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians have tried to drive out residents of nearby Jewish communities. For the last five months, their intensifying terror has focused on Evyatar, a newly established but highly contested Israeli outpost located adjacent to Beita.
In an effort to reduce tensions, Jerusalem in June backed a deal that saw all Israeli citizens leave the hilltop pending an inquiry into the ownership of the land. The residents of Beita, however, rejected the compromise and intensified their violence. “The torch unit is improving its abilities to harass [Israelis] in a new way currently at Jabal Sbeih [near Evyatar],” the rioters wrote in a Facebook post dated August 14.
They then detonated numerous powerful explosive devices whose shock waves were felt in towns across the region.
The rioters on at least three separate occasions burned makeshift Nazi swastikas embedded with Jewish Stars of David. “You [Israelis] are worse than Hitler and the Nazis,” the organizers subsequently said.
“Yes, we want to burn you alive. That is all we are working for,” they added.
In line with their publicly stated goal, they set ablaze a model of an Israeli village.
Palestinian rioters from the Samarian town of Beita, who previously burned makeshift Nazi swastikas juxtaposed against a Star of David, last night set fire to an effigy of an Orthodox Jew.
Yet @EUpalestinians remains silent about this PA-backed Jew-hatred pic.twitter.com/EVnxWeYrX9
— Akiva van Koningsveld (@koningsveld) September 10, 2021
Related Video: Up In Flames: Abbas-backed Palestinians Equate Israel to Nazi Germany
VPRO’s Obligations Under the Law
Sakir Khader has unquestionably witnessed some of the above-described events having arrived in Beita only weeks after the violence erupted.
But he seemingly twists the facts to promote an anti-Israel narrative.
Indeed, Khader has not reported on even one of the countless examples of antisemitism during the riots.
His lack of objectivity is perhaps unsurprising when considering his family claims to own land in the area of Evyatar. Moreover, one of his relatives was killed by an Israeli soldier in August during clashes in which Palestinians reportedly threw stones and firebombs at security forces. Khader had previously shared a photo of a rock-thrower in Beita and described the object as “the weapon of the oppressed.” This, even though Palestinian stone-throwers have killed numerous Israeli civilians.
Nevertheless, as a filmmaker employed by a taxpayer-funded broadcasting cooperation, Khader is required to be impartial. In fact, the VPRO’s Code of Conduct (PDF, Dutch) stipulates that “[…] editors always operate according to the journalistic principles of editorial independence, balance, reliability and expertise in news reports, analysis and opinions.”
Furthermore, article 2.88 (5) of the Media Act 2008 (Dutch) requires the broadcaster to take “appropriate measures” to prevent that its productions incite violence, hatred or discrimination against individuals or groups, or abet terrorism.
Khader’s social media posts are in clear violation of VPRO’s legal obligations.
For example, on July 6 he shared a video that included the following quote:
This is the strong Beita. We will never kneel to a monkey. Beita, the mother of battles, we are all going to heaven. We sacrifice our souls for no reason — for the sake of Beita. Oh, enemy, don’t come near Beita. We are ready to sacrifice our souls when needed. We will never succumb to the enemy. We will never kneel to the pigs.”
In another recent instance, Khader “liked” a Twitter post hailing a member of Hamas, an EU-designated terror group. The tweet glorified “the honor of martyrdom.” He also publicly mourned “martyrs” killed during the violent skirmishes in Beita, including a Hamas member (see here, here, here, here and here).
Beita. The frontline against injustice. pic.twitter.com/Egsb0U3FkR
— Sakir Khader (@sakirkhader) June 21, 2021
HonestReporting calls on the Dutch public broadcaster to follow its Code of Conduct and the Media Act and renounce all forms of terrorism and antisemitism, in line with Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag’s call to curb hatred and violence.
We urge our readers to contact VPRO’s editor-in-chief, Stan van Engelen, at [email protected].
