Hero Who Hid Jewish Children in Laundry Baskets from Nazis Dies at 107

By Gabrielle Okun 

A heroic man who hid Jewish children in laundry baskets in Amsterdam from Nazis has died at age 107.

Johan van Hulst, a Dutch seminary leader and later a politician, died March 22, the Daily Mail reported.

Hulst was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations in 1972, an award that is given to non-Jews who heroically rescued Jews during the Holocaust.

The former Protestant seminary leader rescued at least 600 Jewish children from being deported to Nazi death camps.

Hulst used an “ingenious system” to hide young Jews, most under the age of 12, in laundry baskets and sacks across the city.

Nazis kept Jewish families in a nursery school across the street before being deporting them to death camps. If there were too many children, Nazis would separate them from their parents and put them in Hulst’s school prior to deportation.

The brave Hulst resisted the Nazis by writing down fewer children than SS Guards originally believed were at the school. He would use his system to save the Jewish children by having his helpers smuggle them to different houses and pretending that they were their own children, The Times of Israel reported.

Hulst successfully skirted the Nazis until one of his collaborators revealed the scheme and he was forced to go into hiding in 1945.

After the war, Hulst became a politician, serving as a senator for the Christian Democratic Party from 1956 to 1981.

“We say, those who save one life save a universe. You saved hundreds of universes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Hulst during a trip to the Netherlands in 2012. “I want to thank you in the name of the Jewish people, but also in the name of humanity.”

Hulst said he felt that he didn’t do enough to deter the Nazis and rescue Jews.

“I actually only think about what I have not been able to do — to those few thousand children that I could not have saved,” he said in 2015.

Heroes are like that!

The Netherlands is second to only Poland in the number of heroic people honored as Righteous Among the Nations, with more than 5,000.

Rest in Peace good brother; you have earned it.

Tony Blair Warns of Populist Uprisings & Collapse of EU if Muslim Immigration not Addressed

More countries could break away from the EU in a wave of populist revolts, says Tony Blair. The former UK PM has called on EU countries to “seize the moment” and to deal with underlying Muslim migration issues.

Blair told German newspaper Die Welt that the same migration concerns that sparked Brexit aren’t issues faced solely by the UK, and other EU countries could face backlashes down the line.

“Let’s be clear: the anxieties of the British people that led to Brexit are not confined to Britain,” he said.

“With strong leadership we would seize the moment of Brexit also to deal with those underlying issues which are not only the preoccupation of the British people but are the preoccupation right across Europe. Because otherwise, this populism will get fueled.”

Blair made a clear distinction between EU migration - a problem that he believes is only an issue in certain areas of the UK -  and non-EU migration. He said tensions occur from non-EU migration “when people aren’t sure the people coming are sharing our values” - particularly from majority-Muslim countries.

Blair believes this is already an issue in Holland, Denmark and Sweden.

At the end of December, Blair’s think tank, the Institute for Global Change, released a report warning of a populist uprising in Europe as voters become frustrated with European immigration issues.

Last January, the former Labour leader poured a whopping £10 million of his funds into the Tony Blair Institute, another step in forwarding his anti-populist crusade.

On Thursday, Blair took to his ‘Institute for Global Change’ website to hit out at serving UK Prime Minister Theresa May, calling her handling of Brexit negotiations “farcical” and accusing Labour of having a timid political approach to the issue.

Blair has also called for a second referendum, once the details of the Brexit agreement have been thrashed out, so the people of the United Kingdom can have a say on whether they still want to leave the EU or not.

“When we voted in 2016, we knew we were voting against our present membership of the European Union, but not what the future relationship with Europe would be,” he said.

“Once we know the alternative, we should be entitled to think again, either through Parliament or an election or through a fresh referendum, which will, of course, not be a rerun of the first because it will involve this time a choice based on knowledge of the alternative to existing EU membership.”

What Blair skirts around is the hypocrisy of his own nativism. He glosses over the fact that the war in Iraq sparked an influx of illegal immigrants and migrants in the UK – a war in which his facilitating the invasion of the Middle Eastern nation saw him accused of war crimes in the years to follow.

In 2007, as Blair prepared to depart from Downing Street, seasoned newspaper editor and accomplished historian Max Hastings rebuked the then-PM in a scathing opinion piece dripping with both contempt and sarcasm.

“Some might forgive Tony Blair for the catastrophe of Iraq, but will never forgive his abject failure to control immigration,” the former Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard editor wrote in the Daily Mail.

“According to official figures – and these, of course, ignore the countless numbers of illegal immigrants – the population of Britain grew by 185,000 in 2005 because of immigration, a trend which means well over a million a decade.

“Many of the new arrivals not only do not speak our language, but actively reject our values and way of life.”

Hastings blamed not only the Iraq war, but public services made too easily accessible.

“They want to come because Britain is famously the softest touch in the world for access, public money and housing,” Hastings added. “Nobody need agree to anything, least of all loyalty to Queen and country, before being waved through the door.”

Unfortunately, Canada's Justin Trudeau was not paying attention to this, and still isn't.

When Blair’s ten-year prime ministerial reign drew to a close in 2007, his reputation was left in tatters - an opinion poll at the time showed that a mere 11 percent of voters still liked him and 51 percent thought that “he manages to convince himself that whatever he has decided to do must be morally right.”

The latter opinion was supported by the Chilcot Enquiry into the war in Iraq, wherein Sir John Chilcot found that the invasion was unnecessary. The enquiry also found that Blair was not “straight with the nation,” and used bogus intelligence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as his pretext to invade.

A 2009 academic study revealed that about half a million people died in Iraq of war-related causes between 2003 and mid-2011. According to the MIT Centre for International Studies, up to five million Iraqi people were displaced or became refugees.

Dutch Head to Polls Amid Tense Immigration Policy Debate

Do they even know what Rutte did? 

© Cris Toala Olivares / Reuters

Up to 13 million Dutch voters are expected to head to the polls on Wednesday to elect 150 members of the lower house of parliament in a symbolic Euroscepticism showdown that seems to have split society along the immigration policy divide.

Some 28 parties are competing in the election which is largely viewed as a face-off between ultranationalist Geert Wilders and the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Under the proportional representation system, any party who receives more than 0.67 percent of the vote, will pass the mandated threshold and get at least one seat. 

Following the latest round of televised debates on Tuesday night in which representatives of 13 parties competed, Prime Minister Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is leading Wilder’s Party for Freedom (PVV) by a small margin.

The Dutch Peilingwijzer website which tracks down six polling outlets says that VVD will likely gain between 24-28 seats, versus 19-22 that will most likely go to PVV. The Christian Democratic Appeal Party (CDA) and its leader Sybrand Buma are predicted to gain between 19-21 seats. 

At least four other parties are likely to gain more than 10 seats. These include the centrist D66, Green-Left, the Socialist Party and the social democrat Labour Party (PvdA). Whichever party can secure the majority 76 seats in parliament, either on its own or through a coalition, will form the new Dutch government and choose the Prime Minister.

Merkel and Rutte make a secret deal with Turkey promising to take in hundreds of thousands of migrants even if the rest of the EU refuses. Turkey gets to pick the refugees going into Europe and are sending the sick and uneducated while keeping the educated and healthy in Turkey.

Do the Dutch actually know this?

Rutte who took on Wilders in a heated debate on Monday night has made it clear that his party will not work with the PVV leader.

“Not even in a tolerance structure – no, never, no,” Rutte said, dismissing the possibility of forming a coalition with Wilders.

Rutte is urging voters to back him so that he continue his political course and focus on preserving the Dutch economic recovery and its place in the European Union.

Wilders remains hopeful that he will be able to persuade voters to side with the global anti-establishment trend reinvigorated by the Brexit referendum and the victory of Donald Trump in the US.

Wilders has said that Netherlands’ exit from the European Union would be “the best thing that could happen to us”.

Rutte instead argued that the so-called Nexit would cost 1.5 million jobs and create “chaos”.

Wilders, on the other hand, told the voters that after a Nexit, the Dutch would become the “master of our own country again”.

As part of his controversial agenda, the 53-year old Wilders wants to close Islamic schools and asylum centers. In addition, Wilders wants to shut down borders with a blanket ban on migrants from Muslim countries. The ultra-conservative also wants the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands.

During the final debate, Wilders engaged in an intense face-off with PvdA party leader Lodewijk Asscher over the issue of immigration.

The issue and debate around foreigners in the Netherlands has heightened in recent days following the diplomatic row and weekend rioting over the barring of the Turkish family minister from entering the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam.

“If you want to tackle crime you should deport those foreigners who rape, commit a crime and laugh at our police,” Wilders said. “The Netherlands is not for everyone, the Netherlands is for the Dutch.” 

Some of Wilder's supporters told RT ahead of the election that the Party for Freedom is shaping the new political agenda for the Netherlands.

“Wilders is a person who notices the frustration, what is brewing and annoying people and he expresses it. Other parties are now listening as well,” Wim Keizer a local politician in Volendam told RT.

While the PVV's support is strong, Wilders is unlikely to be able to form the next government even if he wins the popular vote, as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with him.

Rest assured, Holland, your government will continue to ensure that the Netherlands completes its exercise in cultural suicide! How can so many be so blind?

Swiss Parliament Paves Way for Nationwide Burqa Ban

The movement against the burqa is important not just for women's rights sake, or for security sake, but the ban will disincentivize (did I just make up a word?) fundamentalist Muslims from immigrating to those countries where a ban is in place. Fundamentalist Muslims, if not already radicalized are very susceptible to radicalization.


A Swiss national flag, a woman wearing burqa. © Reuters

Switzerland’s parliament has approved a draft bill aiming for a nationwide burqa ban, initiated by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP). Its backers also launched a public petition with the same goal.

The draft bill was approved on Tuesday, with 88 MPs of the lower house voting in favor and 87 voting against the move. The draft legislation should be now reviewed by the Council of States, which represents all 26 Swiss cantons. Back in January the body signaled that it is likely to vote against such a measure, citing small numbers of women wearing the burqa in the country.

Tuesday’s vote was based on a SVP proposal which had roots back in 2014. An SVP MP and an anti-immigration advocate Walter Wobmann said that the main goal is to “maintain public order and respect for the dignity of women." Earlier in September Wobmann urged the banning of hijabs from passports, saying that “it is unacceptable that you can wear a hijab in a photo but not a cap.”

The idea of allowing a burqa in passport photos is utterly ridiculous. What's the point of a photo if a woman looks exactly like a hundred million other women? 

The SVP-linked activists have meanwhile launched an initiative called “Yes to disguise ban.” On its website the project calls for an amendment to the Swiss constitution so that it contains a new article, banning the burqa across the country.

“No person shall cover [his/her] face in public and in places accessed by the public (exempt for holy places),” the statement by the initiative reads.

The paper adds that “no one is allowed to force a person to conceal [his/her] face because of their gender.” However it also states that exemptions are allowed in the case of “medical, security, climatic” reasons. The initiative must gain a minimum of 100,000 votes by September 15, 2017 for the move to be handled by authorities.

The burqa, alongside niqab is a full-face veil that only leaves a small opening for the eyes and is worn by women adhering to certain conservative interpretations of Islam. According to the latest polls conducted by the Swiss “Schweiz am Sonntag” news outlet 60 percent of people in the country are in favor of a nationwide burqa ban.

Interesting contrast: the woman in the distance has her eyes covered while
the woman in the burqa has everything but her eyes covered

On July 1 this year the Swiss canton of Ticino already implemented a complete ban on wearing the burqa and niqab, with a fines ranging from 100 Swiss francs ($98) to 10,000 ($10,200).

The majority of people in neighboring Germany has also backed a complete ban on burqa according to an August ARD poll. The survey said that 51 percent of respondents advocated outright prohibition. The idea is being strongly supported by the German anti-immigrant AfD party.

Similar mood can be noticed in the UK, where a recent YouGov poll found that 57 percent of Brits would vote in favor of burqa prohibition.

In May, the Dutch government backed a partial ban on wearing an Islamic face-covering veil in schools, hospitals and on public transport, with fines amounting to £300 ($388).

In 2011 France became the first European country to outlaw full-face coverings including the burqa. The country’s island of Corsica caused an angry reaction from Muslim women this summer after it also banned the burqini – full-body swimsuits worn by Muslim women. In July the island’s authorities bypassed the State Council’s legislation regarding the issues and introduced the ban on the beaches of commune of Sisko.

Palestinian Propaganda Machine Turning the Dutch Antisemitic

Dutch ex-PM calls visiting Netanyahu ‘war criminal’ amid anti-Israeli protests in The Hague

People demonstrate against the visit of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in The Hague, on September 6, 2016. © Bart Maat / AFP

Instead of rolling out a welcome mat for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who kickstarted his visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday amid huge pro-Palestine protests, the Dutch should “send him right away to the International Criminal Court,” Dries Van Agt said.

Is this picture an example of the 'huge' protests? I count 8 bodies.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s two-day visit to the country, Van Agt, who served as Dutch PM from 1977 to 1982, labelled the Israeli leader a “war criminal” in an televised interview with the NPO1 national TV channel on Monday.

The 85-year old politician and activist, known for his vocal support of the Palestinian cause, defended his controversial remark by saying that Israel has been committing a crime under the Rome Statute, one of the foundations of the International Criminal Court.

“The occupation and expansion… building of settlements, of occupied territory, this is according to the Rome Statute, which is… the setup… the statute on which the international criminal court is based, in so many words, a war crime,” Agt noted in an interview, as cited by the Times of Israel.

The Rome Statute, which has been effective since July 2002, outlines four key international crimes, including crimes of aggression, war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Military occupation falls under crimes of aggression category.

Israel signed the treaty in December 2000, but did not ratify it. In 2002, Israel along with the US “unsigned” the document blaming the court of misinterpreting the law and “inventing new crimes.” One of the primary concerns was the clause allowing Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes for “transfer of parts of the civilian population of an occupying power into occupied territory.” 

That's just absurd and shows how the UN is controlled by antisemitism. It was obviously written specifically to prosecute Israel. 

Netanyahu, who met with Dutch PM Mark Rutte and King Willem Alexander during the first day of his visit on Tuesday, should not be treated like a much-anticipated guest by the authorities, but quite on the contrary, Agt argues.

“So why should we receive someone who continues with such things, we could have sent him right away to the International Criminal Court, that would have been better.”

Van Agt has courted controversy with his bold statements in the past. In 2008, the former PM, who stood on pro-Israel positions during his time in office, confessed that he was “ashamed” of siding with Israel during his tenure. As an eye-opener for him served a ‘horrendous” story of a Palestinian student humiliated by the IDF soldiers he heard on a visit to Bethlehem in 1999. 

And he actually believed it? You can't believe anything that comes out of Palestine. They will say anything to turn the world against Israel and, unfortunately, there is no shortage of fools to believe them.

Palestinians teach kindergarten age children to hate and aspire to kill Jews. That's not a problem for you Van Agt? How many UN resolutions were issued about this extreme child abuse? Any?

It's hardly believable, a student gets humiliated while suicide bombers are blowing up Jews in restaurants, and all he can think of is the student. You need a serious 'reset' Van Agt!

"I began studying, figuring out what's going on there. I found one story after the other. Then I started thinking about the 39 United Nations resolutions begging, demanding and imploring Israel to vacate the Occupied Territories,” he said in an interview to Haaretz, adding that his sudden political U-turn made his critics think that he is not “fully in my right mind anymore”.

I have to agree with his critics. You don't think 39 resolutions against Israel is absurdly excessive? How many dozens of resolutions did the UN issue against Russia for invading Chechnya? That was an extremely violent act of aggression, it surely deserved many more UN resolutions than Israel building homes in the West Bank. So far, I've found one!

The issue here is that Israel does not consider the West Bank and Golan Heights to be occupied territory, but disputed territory captured in a war that Israel did not start or want. The West Bank was under Jordanian control, the Golan Heights under Syrian control. Both of those countries attacked Israel. Why on earth should they ever give it back to them? So they can have another go at destroying Israel?

While politicians of his own Christian-Democratic Appeal party prefer to distance themselves from Van Agt’s rhetoric, thousands of activists gathered in front of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday to protest the arrival of the Israeli leader and show solidarity to Palestine. The protesters were waving Palestinian banners and placards reading, “Netanyahu Not Welcome.” 

Smoking Strong Cannabis ‘Can Lead to Brain Damage,’ Study Finds

© Steve Dipaola / Reuters

Smoking extremely strong cannabis can lead to “significant” brain damage, a King’s College London study suggests.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, found that “skunk” cannabis damages the corpus callosum, a bundle of neural fibers that allows communication between the brain’s left and right hemispheres.

The two sides of the brain have very different functions. For instance the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. While the Bible says, "do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing", it is speaking metaphorically. In reality, coordination between the two sides of the body is highly recommended. And there are many other reasons the two sides of the brain should be communicating.

In Holland, where marijuana is legally sold in cafes, skunk has been reclassified as a hard drug and is therefore illegal.

The illegal drug contains high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical responsible for the high users receive.

"It has long been known that people with a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia are far more likely to smoke both cannabis and tobacco,” Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said.

She added that scientists believe there is a direct link between cannabis and the levels of dopamine, which is the (the chemical messenger in the brain which is related to psychotic experience).

Regular use of the substance can lead to more harm, according to the research.

Frequently smoking the drug could trigger mental health issues, hallucinations and slow down brain activity.

Researchers examined 56 patients who reported having had a psychotic episode and 43 healthy volunteers.

The average age of healthier participants was 27 while the average age of psychotic patients was 29.

Previous studies highlighted much higher incidents of psychosis among teenagers smoking pot than adults. This study, while not determining incidents of psychosis does indicate that it does occur in adults, as well as the damage to white matter.

Lead researcher Dr Paola Dazzan, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, said: “We found that frequent use of high potency cannabis significantly affects the structure of white matter fibers in the brain, whether you have psychosis or not.

“This reflects a sliding scale where the more cannabis you smoke and the higher the potency, the worse the damage will be.”

Co-author Dr Tiago Reis Marques said: “This white matter damage was significantly greater among heavy users of high potency cannabis than in occasional or low potency users, and was also independent of the presence of a psychotic disorder.”

Legalizing pot

Commenting on the findings, freelance journalist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett said legalizing the drug would give users “far greater control and choice” over the strength of what they smoked.

More than two million people in Britain smoked cannabis last year. A private analysis by the Treasury found that legalizing cannabis would raise tax revenues worth hundreds of millions of pounds and result in huge savings for the criminal justice system.

In August, government ministers debated a petition signed by 200,000 people calling for the legalization of cannabis. Its prohibition was upheld, however.