Politicians from left to right came to the breach on Wednesday for PvdA-GroenLinks MP Habtamu de Hoop, following a statement by Johan Derksen in a television program Today Inside to his address. “He's not Frisian, come on,” said Derksen when it came to the talk show table about De Hoop's positive response to a government plan to invest 18 million euros in the promotion of the Frisian language. “I'm not Surinamese, am I?” he added.
De Hoop, who was adopted from Ethiopia shortly after his birth and grew up in Friesland, responded briefly to Derksen's statements on Wednesday morning on X. “Well Johan, I'm Frisian. I grew up on a farm in Wommels. Raised by two Frisian parents, where I played handball, football, drove a tractor, skated, milked and scooped shit. Because even the less fun chores are part of a Frisian farm. And now I am a Member of Parliament, the youngest. Where I am committed to affordable housing and public transport. Because I think it is important to give something back for all the opportunities I was given.”
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte responded to X in Frisian. “Good response, Habtamu de Hoop. And Johan, tie this to your ears!”, he wrote above the video message from De Hoop. Outgoing Minister Hugo De Jonge of (Interior Affairs, CDA) called Derksen's statements “the kind of everyday racism that too many people are confronted with every day. So we will have to speak out against that every day. Don't normalize what is not normal.” PvdA-GroenLinks faction leader Frans Timmermans said, among other things: “A call to those who feel addressed: stop this racism and simply treat others with respect.” Politicians such as Jan Paternotte (D66) and Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks) responded with a similar message.
'Bottom hit'
For Harm Beertema, former PVV MP, Derksen's statement shows that Today Inside “has hit the bottom here”. On X he was one of the first to speak out: “My former colleague OCW spokesperson, Habtamu de Hoop, was the youngest Member of Parliament when I was the eldest. We laughed a lot and had great debates. He speaks Frisian, he breathes Frisian, he shares Frisian culture like no other Frisian I know. So what is he? A proud Frisian”.
Johan Derksen thinks the criticism is grossly exaggerated, he objects A.D said. “No matter what you say these days, there is always racism involved, or anti-Semitism or homophobia. You still have one on Dutch TV who says what he thinks about it, and then he's an asshole. What are people concerned about? But I am always very easy about it: I am not interested in anything and I accept all consequences.” Derksen also said that his point was that he finds it “ridiculous” that 18 million euros goes to the Frisian language.
Rabin Baldewsingh, the National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism (NCDR), responded briefly to Derksen's statements. “It is beneath my dignity to respond to this kind of nonsense.”
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