He noted that the incident in Amsterdam happened just days prior to the annual commemorations of Kristallnacht, the brutal pogroms that the Nazis perpetrated against Jews in Germany, the annexed country of Austria, and other Nazi-controlled areas. Throughout Nov. 9–10, 1938, the Nazis vandalized and destroyed hundreds of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes.
Lackner called for prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine. He added that any ideology, including religious or political opinion, that permits or justifies violence against Jews has no place in society.
“We must stand up against this,” he said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the incident on social media as an “antisemitic pogrom.” The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, reportedly called Herzog to apologize for the incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government swiftly arranged special flights to evacuate Jewish people from Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday.
St. Paul VI’s 1965 encyclical Nostrae Aetate made clear the Church’s condemnation of hatred and violence against Jews and Judaism, decrying all “hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone” (Nostra Aetate, 4).
The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League has been tracking a sharp rise in the number of antisemitic attacks and incidents since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. According to that group, antisemitic incidents surged by more than 350% in the first 100 days after the invasion.
The majority of those incidents, according to the group’s data, involved either “verbal or written harassment” or “rallies” involving antisemitic rhetoric and “expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel and/or anti-Zionism.” Dozens of instances of assault and hundreds of reports of vandalism were also recorded.
For their part, the Catholic bishops of the United States have condemned in recent years what they call a “reemergence of antisemitism in new forms.” In a statement released before the start of the current Israel-Hamas conflict, the bishops called on Christians to join them in opposing acts of antisemitism and reminding the faithful of Christianity’s shared heritage with Judaism.
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and assistant podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and in the past has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer.
