Radical climate activists deface Christian pro-Israel center in Netherlands with ‘Free Gaza’ graffiti

'Jewish community is confronted with this every day, and now so are we'

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A building belonging to the Christians for Israel (C4I) organization in Nijkerk, Netherlands was vandalized by radical climate activists spray-painting pro-Palestinian graffiti last Sunday, according to a statement by the organization.

After the environmental group “Extinction Rebellion” claimed responsibility for the act, the Dutch police arrested a 33-year-old woman from Arnhem a few days later on suspicion of participating in the act.

“On July 7, the Israel Center in Nijkerk was defaced by anti-Israel activists. They smeared the building with paint and posted posters with inflammatory texts. We deeply regret that this could have happened,” Christians for Israel said in a press statement.

“Our Israel center is a place where we work together with about 30 employees and a lot of volunteers. We host guests from all over the Netherlands and abroad to visit our center and our exhibition,” according to C4I.

Vandalization of Israel Center in Nijkerk, Netherlands (Photo: Christians for Israel Netherlands)

“The environmental group ‘Extinction Rebellion Netherlands’ has claimed responsibility for the graffiti via the social media platform. This vandalism and intimidation is completely unacceptable. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that organizations or individuals who speak out for Israel have been threatened or intimidated by anti-Israel activists.”

“The Jewish community in our country is confronted with this every day, and now so are we. We hope and expect that politicians will take this incident seriously,” the statement read.

“As you often see with such actions, people act out of ignorance,” the organization’s director Frank van Oordt stated.

“If the activists knew what we stand for, they would not have carried out this action. We feel safe in our building where we now have our beautiful summer exhibition. The building is guarded and absolutely safe for visitors.”

I visited the Christenen voor Israël center in Nijkerk to hug them and show support after their building was defaced.

The friends of Christians for Israel do amazing work, and I had the pleasure to experience their new exhibition. A recommendation for the entire family! pic.twitter.com/aeBYxdEHEt
— Modi Ephraim (@AmbModiEphraim) July 11, 2024

On Thursday, Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Modi Ephraim, visited the vandalized center to show his support.

“I visited the Christenen voor Israël center in Nijkerk to hug them and show support after their building was defaced,” Ephraim wrote on 𝕏.

“The friends of Christians for Israel do amazing work, and I had the pleasure to experience their new exhibition. A recommendation for the entire family!”

Christians for Israel is a non-denominational movement advocating for Israel in the world and actively helping different parts of Israeli society in the country.

“Since October 7th, we give a lot of attention to what happened and try to give reliable information about the war,” according to C4I.

“Since a few months, we sent groups to Israel. We are working in Israel with those groups for a few days, to help wherever help is needed. We do help with the harvest, volunteering for projects that Christians for Israel support or packing aid packages.”

Nog meer "antizionisme": het beeldje van Anne Frank op het Merwedeplein in Amsterdam, waar de Joodse dagboekschrijfster woonde tot het moment dat ze in 1942 onderdook, is beklad met rode verf en de tekst 'Gaza'. Er is aangifte gedaan bij de politie. pic.twitter.com/2HBMwRai7Z
— CIDI 🎗️ (@CIDI_nieuws) July 9, 2024

The incident in Nijkerk is part of a wave of antisemitism that has been sweeping across the West in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion and massacre of southern Israeli communities Just a few days later, a memorial for the Jewish girl Anne Frank in Amsterdam was defaced with similar slogans.

According to the Times of Israel, several other buildings were defaced in the area, with activists claiming they belonged to companies with ties to Israel.

However, the vocally pro-Israel politician Geert Wilders recently won an election in the Netherlands, and newly-elected Foreign Minister Kasper Veldkamp, who previously served as the ambassador to Israel, promised Israel to support the declaration of the Iranian IRGC as a terror group.