Outgoing mayor Aboutaleb saw all citizens as Rotterdammers

Shortly after the bloody attack by Hamas in southern Israel, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb decided to fly the Rotterdam flag at half-mast at the city hall – a tribute to all civilian victims of the explosion of violence between Hamas and Israel. Coalition party Leefbaar Rotterdam and the VVD were angry; they wanted to see the Israeli flag on City Hall. Aboutaleb stuck to his decision.

There was little sign of all that criticism on Tuesday during the New Year's reception at City Hall. There he announced that he would resign from the office of mayor of Rotterdam in the autumn, after more than fifteen years. He received praise from all sides. “A committed and committed director.” (Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema, GroenLinks). “A loyal fellow director.” (Mayor of The Hague Jan van Zanen, VVD). “The best mayor ever,” said the audience.

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He has even officially held the latter title since 2021, after the international think tank City Mayors Foundation named him 'best mayor in the world'. “Aboutaleb treats all citizens as 'Rotterdammers', regardless of their origin and background,” the jury report stated. The foundation calls Aboutaleb “one of the longest-serving and most respected mayors in Europe.” The magazine Domestic Administration has already named him the best local director three times. And when RTV Rijnmond conducted a poll among six thousand Rotterdam residents after two terms, it turned out that about eighty percent supported a third term.

He certainly did not have this pop star status from the start of his mayoralty. Aboutaleb is never dashing as mayor, especially not in the first years. Always thorough, hardworking and committed. Over the years, he grew increasingly in his role as mayor and his popularity also increased.

Little contradiction

Aboutaleb is also a man who tolerates little contradiction, which was especially clear to people who work with him. Anyone who regularly attends council meetings will see a director who can react testily to council members who go against him. When Leefbaar councilor Ingrid Coenradi recently accused him of cronyism in a debate about a fraud case at Urban Development, he reacted angrily. “I find it shocking and beneath any standard. Really scandalous.”

He is powerful and authentic in crisis situations. He knows how to strike the right chord in difficult moments. Such as recently, when a medical student shot dead a mother and her fourteen-year-old daughter and a teacher at Erasmus MC. He was the deeply touched and comforting mayor at the meeting for neighbors, put his arm around shoulders and handed out hugs. And at the same time he was the quickly and adequately acting administrator that the city needs at such a time.

He has a straightforward style that appeals to many people. After the riots in South Rotterdam in 2021, including against the corona measures, he addressed the rioters directly in a video a day later: “How does it feel to wake up with a bag of stolen items next to your bed?” The rioters had looted several stores. “A hero, you,” he added. “What does your conscience actually say?”

The best-known example of his 'behave and be done with it' attitude is his speech after the bloody attack on the Charlie Hebdo editorial office by Islamic extremists in Paris in 2015. He spoke the legendary words: “If you don't like humorists making a newspaper, then yes… I can say it this way: Fuck off!” He added that “the Muslim community” must distance itself from Islamic extremism.

Many Dutch people appreciate that he says that as a professing Muslim. He is just as strict with fellow believers as he is with others. At the same time, it stings many young Rotterdam Muslims. By asking the Muslim community to apologize for something they had nothing to do with, they are being addressed about their ethnic and religious background. And that, they think, is outdated.

The criticism is now broader than just from Muslim fellow citizens and is expressed more easily. At the time of the council debate after the October 7 attack on Israel, he was on a business trip to Morocco. He was not appreciated. It was an emotional meeting – without Aboutaleb. He was asked to stay, but went anyway.

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