My love for Israel is born in my childhood, when I lived there with my family due to the fact my father was in the Dutch army and was sent to the United Nations Peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. As I told before, the first moment I set foot on Israeli soil, I was home and that never changed from that day in January 1978.

With my group Time To Stand Up For Israel, we are having weekly Pro Israel support actions in Amsterdam. Already 2 years we are standing there in support of Israel and the Israeli tourists that are faced with hate in the capital of The Netherlands, Amsterdam. They are confronted with Pro Hamas activists disguised as Pro “Palestinian “activists waving the “Palestinian”, (almost similar to Jordan), flag.

The Pro “Palestinian “activists are verbally attacking Israeli tourists, often young boys and girls just before or just after the army, that come to relax and enjoy themselves. Or just families that are trying to live their life in peace….To see our Israeli flags and hear our Israeli music comforts them, releases them from some stress and for the short moments makes them happy…

In the mean time the Pro “Palestinians’ are shouting and cheering “from the river to the sea, Palestine should be free”, this in combination of displaying the map of “palestine”. It makes perfectly clear what they actually mean with this slogan. As Pro Israel/ Pro Jewish activist Michael Jacobs said: Don’t be fooled with the slogan; “From the river to the sea, Palestine should be free” they actually mean, Israel/ Palestine must be “Jude rein” aka every Jew should be killed and driven into the sea.

Then in preparation of our weekly action on august 12^th I opened Facebook and saw the horrible horrible images of the protests against the National state Law. The Rabin square in Tel Aviv full of “Palestinian flags”, the building decorated with this Flag of terror… and among the hundreds Israeli Arabs a lot of leftist Jews, cheering alongside those that supporting a Jude rein “Palestine”.

I understand Israel is a democratic country, but some things are just too much to handle. Jews happy and cheerful protesting for their own self-destruction? While I set down and read everything tears were in my eyes. Is this my Israel? Is this the country I am defending with all my power and devotion? Can you imagine, if I feel this way, how should someone feel that lost friends, relatives in terror attacks or in wars defending Israel and the Jewish people? Someone that lost a loved one that was defending all this persons whom are now cheering around the same flag of hate and destruction?

My heart is broken and I pray with all my heart that in the next elections this bunch of ignorant people will not get the majority in the Knesset. If this will be my Israel in the future, I think Israel is lost forever. Of course we all should look for Peace and harmony .. but let it be in a realistic way. Until now the only thing where Hamas is honest about, is the fact that their goal is the total destruction of Israel and every Jew in it.

Please Israelis wake up, you and your parents, grandparents fought hard for Israel, worked with blood, sweat and tears to make this country a fantastic Jewish state, where there is a total freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a country where there is no racism. The proud Jewish state… Don’t be fooled, just wake up

Israel has the right to exist and the obligation to defend herself