Gouda Mayor Pieter Verhoeve Presents ‘Three Rs’ Vision for Fighting Antisemitism at Dortmund Summit

Mayor Pieter Verhoeve, from the Dutch city of Gouda, presented a “Three Rs” vision for fighting Jew-hatred in remarks at the 2023 European Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in Dortmund, Germany, on Thursday.

Mayor Verhoeve’s plan is laid out as follows:

1. Renew the memory.

2. Resist the poison of hatred of Jews.

3. Revive compassion.

“It is important to identify hate,” Mayor Verhoeve said. “After all, the past is a knowing guide.”

“Antisemitism must exposed and combated,” he stated. “Since October 7th, we have been seeing the demons in their ugly faces. In the Netherlands, a 818% increase in antisemitic incidents has been tracked in the last month.”

“Unfortunately, that does not leave out Gouda,” Mayor Verhoeve noted. ” A man named Sjoerd had a stone thrown through his window because he had placed a menorah in front of it. Last week, I visited a lady who also had a stone thrown through her window, because she had stuck a small Israeli flag in her flowerpot. Horrible, right? ‘I’ll leave the flag anyway,’ she told me. ‘I will not give in to hatred.'”

Thank you Mayor of Gouda, The Netherlands @PieterVerhoeve for presenting your three-step strategy to combating antisemitism:

1. Renew the memory
2. Resist the poison of Jew-hatred
3. Revive

Your valuable insights and dedicated efforts serve as an inspiration to us all as we… pic.twitter.com/0fpkWVz96m

— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) November 30, 2023

For more information on the 2023 European Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism’s program and speakers, please visit: europeanmayors.combatantisemitism.org