SWC Denounces Kristallnacht Commemoration Invitation to Dutch Minister Who Supported Terrorist Murderers of Jews

October 4, 2023

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiresenthal Center (SWC) issued the following statement in response to Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag being invited to the Kristallnacht commemoration in the Netherlands:

“Jewish people cannot control their outrage when people in positions of power support terrorists who murder innocent Jews. We dare not desecrate the memory of six million dead Jews and endanger living ones by giving them respect they don’t deserve.”

Kaag admitted to the Dutch parliament in 2020 that her ministry had paid part of the salaries of two terrorists involved in the murder of an Israeli teenager in 2019. She is also married to Anis al-Qaq, a former Palestinian Authority deputy minister and PLO ambassador. Kaag has continued to support the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (WAYC) which employed the terrorists implicated in the attack, by contributing roughly 11.7 million euros. 

For further information contact the Center’s Communications department at pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).