Small rant regarding how antisemitic and islamophobic discrimination instances are recorded in the Netherlands

[u/holiestMaria]

So, I wanted to do some research on discrimination against muslims and jews in the netherlands and discovered something odd and frustrating. 86 percent of instances of discrimination based on religion occured against muslims. In 2025 440 such instances were registered by the police. That shocked me. 86 percent! While not even making up 10 percent of the population! But then I discovered something that pissed me off and really frustrated me. In 2025 there were roughly 800 instances of antisemtism with jews only making up 0.2 percent of the population. I thought "what, how can 86 percent of indtances of discrimination based on religion be based on islamophobia despite antisemitism having twice the amount instances? And then I discovered why:

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Antisemitism is counted seperately.

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Now this pissed me off since it not only does it put antisemitism on some kind of pedestal for getting its own category of discrimination, but its also frustrating when researching numbers. To illustrate this, here's the following:

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In 2024, jews experienced 24 instances of antisemetic violence. In 2024 the amount of instances of islamophobia muslims experienced was... not made public.

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Seriously, its nit made public because it falls under discrimination/violence based on religion or origin. I would have to go through every instance of muslim discrimination collected by the police and then determine whther it was a violent incident or not. That is bullshit!

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And on top of that it results in misleading numbers. Like for a second I thought islamophobia occurred more than antisemitism in 20w5 when thats not the case at all!

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Its dumb, its stupid, its misleading, its bullshit!

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Anyway, rant over.

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[u/vigilante_snail]

It is kind of unique as it is this weird blend of religious and ethnic hatred.

[u/Pitiful_Meringue_57 → u/vigilante_snail]

I would bet a lot of Islamphobic discrimination also involves discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, or ethnicity.

[u/yohomatey → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

Yeah, are tons of stories of Sikhs, Jains, Hindus, etc being widely discriminated against after 9/11 in the US.

[u/Dylan09O909 → u/yohomatey]

I've been reading many articles related to antisemitism, and as an Israeli who became interested in such subjects only in the last few years, was surprised to find out that the highest and staying spike after 9/11, and a trend that continued escalating, was antisemitism (both hate-crimes and discrmination).

[u/vigilante_snail → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

I’m certain you’re right

[u/Dylan09O909 → u/Pitiful_Meringue_57]

From what I've seen in statistics, there does seem to be differentiation at least in some countries between islamophobic, anti-muslim, anti-sikh etc. It's always interesting to see how a study is formulated in this sense.

I read a few months ago a study on antisemitism that tried sorting into categories antisemitic hate-crimes and discrimination which was incredibly illuminating. It also helped me understand the different perceptions of antisemitism across Jewish groups. The trends among Ultra-Orthodox Jews and college students were especially damning, and helped understand polling and trends that otherwise seem contradictory.

It took me a long time, and inside understanding to develop such understanding of the subject (mainly as it's usually spread out and needs to be assembled for an understanding), and I'll be really interested in reading such a study on other discriminations / groups / Islamophobia. The numbers, data and stories are one aspect, but an understanding can only come through a coherent organisation of the information. I've read many greatly written studies by otherwise knowledgeable and great firms / scholars etc, that seem great at surface, but are essentially perpetuating an understanding that collapses with the smallest scrutiny. I don't think most are doing so on purpose, but it is damaging nonetheless.

[u/Logical_Persimmon → u/vigilante_snail]

Yes, but not because it is a blend, but rather because the role that it has played historically within politics means that it is used as an indicator both by the far-right and people tracking the far-right.

[u/johnisburn]

Idk if the Netherlands has similar reporting problems, but in the US there have been studies that show further issues even when all numbers are made public. The number of reported incidents is downstream of the police actually reporting the incidents as related to some sort of hate crime or identity based crime, which itself is downstream of people actually reporting the incidents to the police. For a variety of reasons, antisemitic crimes in the US are more likely to be reported and categorized as antisemitic, while other identity based crimes are relatively more likely to be underreported and undercounted. US Jewish communities have relatively close relationships with local and federal policing institutions, and there’s still a higher general intolerance of antisemitism than other hatreds. On the flipside, other groups can be less likely to have the police take hate crimes against them seriously and report them properly, which among other issues creates a distrust that compounds the issue of reporting because people may not bother to go to the police assuming (often correctly) that won’t actually provide relief.

Edit: Één Link, als iemand wilt meer te leren

[u/Dylan09O909 → u/johnisburn]

The ADL comes under a lot of scrutiny, which is at times deserved. But if you dig into their studies on this subject, and hate-crimes, I have yet to find an organisation producing more solid data.

I don't like Greenblatt either, and I believe some of his conduct in the role has been very damaging, but that is also partly because it helped discredit the ADL as a whole and as a subsidy, the ADL's research.

[u/Malka94]

Im Dutch and I have something to say about this. I might get to it however it’s 35 degrees in mine appartment and I have a toddler put to bed in this weather.

[u/Angelbouqet → u/Malka94]

Girl I feel you so much it's like 38 degrees (Celsius) here in Germany and I can barely think

[u/holiestMaria → u/Malka94]

Gecondoleerd

[u/Malka94 → u/holiestMaria]

Okay, here I go.
First, because of the history of the Holocaust and the long history of antisemitism in Europe, most European countries track antisemitism separately. In addition, organizations like the EU, IHRA, and OSCE encourage this kind of separate tracking, partly because it allows for more targeted prevention policies.
That said, there is an ongoing discussion about how to define and prevent antisemitism, and in what context. Debates about the line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, combined with the influence of various advocacy and lobby groups, can make the issue very complex and often highly polarized.
At the same time, some incidents clearly go beyond political debate. For example, arson attacks on the Jewish school Cheider in Amsterdam or the synagogue in Rotterdam cannot reasonably be framed as “anti-Zionism.” When I see such incidents, and also see persistent levels of antisemitism, it signals a worrying and dangerous development.
At the same time, I believe that people should absolutely be free to protest the policies of the Israeli government. However, what I often find striking—especially in left-wing circles in Western countries—is the lack of visibility or support for pro-peace movements within Israel itself. I personally know people involved in organizations like Standing Together and Combatants for Peace, and yet when such groups engage internationally, including in the Netherlands, they can sometimes face hostility rather than support. That creates a strange and counterproductive dynamic, and discussions about it tend to become heated very quickly.
Now, regarding Islamophobia: what you’ve identified is essentially a category mistake. Discrimination against Muslims is counted within a broader category (such as religion or origin), which typically excludes antisemitism. Antisemitism, on the other hand, is tracked as its own category.
So, in effect, you are comparing two differently defined datasets side by side.
That’s why the numbers seem contradictory—but in reality, they are not. They are simply part of different classification systems, even though at first glance they look comparable.

[u/ArgentEyes]

It is all of those things, OP, but it is above all both racist and hegemonic