How Dutch imams with appen and calls organized a major protest against the Gaza war. ‘Praying is no longer enough’

When Imam Azzedine Karrat last Sunday shoulder to shoulder with fellow imams De Erasmusburg rose behind a large banner with ‘stand on for Gaza’, he felt something of pride. Especially since they were followed by a crowd of people against the ten thousand demonstrators. They had started the march at the Essalammoskee, the minarets of which were shown from far away. « It is actually inappropriate to say that I felt proud, » almost Karrat to say. « Because the protest is only a success when that horrible war in Gaza stops. »

They were Dutch imams with a Moroccan-Dutch background that had taken the lead for the demonstration. They formed an occasional coalition. As spiritual leaders, they normally choose to pray for justice, but praying is no longer enough, they thought. We had to take action, says Karrat. « Islam teaches us to perform supplications for the oppressed. But Islam also encourages us to take action for the all -grassest ones. »

Islam also encourages us to take action for the all -forces

The small group of Imams hit and calling. More imams joined, also with Pakistani, Turkish and Somali background. In the end, a group of around sixty imams came to take to the streets. « Get up for Gaza, » became their slogan. « Comes all. » That message was distributed in their own mosques through social media channels and themselves. They didn’t dare hope that so many people would come up with it.

Tilt point

Apparently the feeling about the war is tilting, Karrat thinks. This is also apparent from a two days after the protest published Research by Bureau Ipsos I&Othat since the start of the war, on October 7, 2023, Dutch people ask how they think about it. IPSOS I&O constantly gaups whether that opinion is changing. The Dutch are becoming increasingly critical of the Israel policy of the government. At the start of the war, 29 percent of respondents still supported Israel policy, at the moment it has fallen to 15 percent.

More than a quarter (27 percent) of the Dutch are not supported by Israel policy. That was still 20 percent just after the start of the war. More than half of the Dutch want the cabinet to be more critical of Israel. « We see the falling support for government policy across the board, » said Ipsos. D66 and GroenLinks-PvdA voters were already critical in the beginning, but VVD and CDA voters are also less positive about the attitude of the Netherlands. Earlier there was a majority of that group behind the position of the cabinet, now that is less than a third. PVV voters are also often critical: only 23 percent support Israel.

Connectors, no activists

Mosque director Jacob van der Blom walked along somewhere in the middle of the procession with his wife and one of his daughters. As far as he is concerned, the Imams should have been able to play earlier. The imam of his mosque, the Middenweg in Rotterdam, has been running every Friday with a group of mosquesmakers with Palestinian flags from the mosque to Rotterdam Central Station and back every Friday.

According to Van der Blom, a remark by Prime Minister Dick Schoof caused a tipping point. Schoof said that there is no red line for the Dutch government, so the Netherlands will shift its course towards Israel. Van der Blom heard in the mosque: wait a minute, so he just doesn’t draw a line. « Then we have to take action ourselves. »

Imams are naturally connectors and not activists, says Imam Karrat. Yet he thinks that they will organize demonstrations more often in the near future, it shows how many people they can get. The Netherlands should not only sympathize with the Ukrainians, although that is also entirely justified, he says. But the Palestinians are entitled to the same amount of compassion, support and help, says Karrat. Muslims feel extra connected to the Palestinians, he says. « We share the Islamic identity. They are brothers and sisters. I always say that in the mosque. »

Van der Blom thought it was great that the Mars went peacefully. He saw other Rotterdammers hanging out of the windows that showed their support. There was an own order service from young people and the elderly with vests and radios who kept an eye on things. There was also a lot of police, Van der Blom saw. The agents made a relaxed impression on him, even when the procession reached the Coolsingel. At the end of the afternoon the crowd stood in front of the town hall. Speeches could be heard there, in Arabic and in Dutch. The municipality says that the demonstration went without incidents.

Wrong flags

In Politiek The Hague, the demonstration was very different afterwards, it turned out on Tuesday during question time in the Lower House. There were many questions about the course of the demonstration. PVV leader Geert Wilders spoke of a ‘pure provocation’ towards Dutch society, on which DENK-party chairman Stephan van Baarle accused him of pronouncing ‘Islamophobic Drek’. The PVV and also many other parties claimed that there would have been many incidents, from showing flags of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State to scanning anti-Semitic expressions.

Minister of Justice David van Weel (VVD) said he had contact with Mayor Carola Schouten about the demonstration. He reported that the organization of the demonstration itself intervened when ‘wrong’ flags were shown.

With the cooperation of Pim van den Dool

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