The Netherlands: half of the population regards Israel as an apartheid state

A new survey has found that 51 per cent of the population of the Netherlands think that there is apartheid in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, PAX reported on Tuesday. The survey was conducted by I & O Research for the peace organisation.

“This picture of how Dutch people view the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has never been given before,” explained Anna Timmerman, the General Director of PAX. “Although many people only have limited knowledge of the situation, the results are striking as they show a huge gap between the Dutch government’s policy and the opinions of a cross-section of the Dutch population.”

She added that, according to the survey, “The Dutch want the government to take a firmer stance on human rights abuses.”

A larger proportion of the population, 61 per cent, hold Israel entirely or mainly responsible for the fact that the conflict has persisted, while 60 per cent also see Hamas as one of the parties responsible for this. Commenting on this, Timmerman said: “A notable finding is that young people in particular tend to see Israel as responsible, more so than Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.”

Most of the respondents — 56 per cent — think that Israel should stop building and expanding illegal settlements; only six per cent disagree. Just under 40 per cent of Dutch people think that their government should impose sanctions on Israel if it continues to build and expand settlements.

Finally, the survey found that 40 per cent of the Dutch feel that the Netherlands should stop collaborating with Israeli weapons manufacturers.

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