Israel Break in the Dutch coalition prevented

The coalition parties in the Dutch government have avoided a rift and settled their dispute over alleged racist remarks made by ministers.

After hours of crisis talks in The Hague, Prime Minister Dick Schoof declared that the coalition would continue to govern together. "There was and is no racism in the government," he said.

The crisis was triggered by allegedly offensive comments made by ministers about Muslims and Moroccan Dutch people following the attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam last week. Nora Achahbar, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, who comes from Morocco, resigned as a result. The other ministers of the center party NSC decided to remain in the government.

The governing coalition, which for the first time also includes the radical right-wing party of Islamophobic populist Geert Wilders, has been in office for just over four months. It is considered to be very unstable.

After the attacks on Israelis, several ministers blamed Muslims and Dutch people of Moroccan origin. The non-party head of government, Schoof, spoke of a failure of integration. Wilders had demanded the expatriation of those responsible. The public prosecutor's office is still investigating who is responsible for the attacks. According to the police, Israeli fans had also committed acts of violence and insulted Palestinians with racist slogans.

SDA