Hans Knoop, a Dutch Jewish journalist whose articles in 1976 led to the arrest of Nazi war criminal Pieter Menten, has revealed himself as organizer of a “Jewish Defense League” in Holland with the stated purpose of reacting physically to verbal manifestations of anti-Semitism. His group has claimed credit for stoning the editorial offices of the daily Haagse Post two weeks ago after the newspaper published interviews with several Dutch soldiers in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) who made anti-Semitic remarks.
Knoop, 35, who is active in the Dutch branch of Herut, first made his disclosure in an interview published last week in the weekly Elseviers. Several days ago a group of about 30 persons declared themselves members of the Dutch JDL, among them Knoop and Charlie Nenner, 28, who described himself as a medical student.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.