Tag Archives: Gaza Strip

RODE LIJN / RED LINE demonstration in The Hague, May 18, to show support for Palestine

Watch the video above to see some highlights from the demonstration. I filmed many great moments with my mobile phone and edited this video.

On Sunday, May 18, the largest demonstration, called ‘Rode Lijn’ (in English: ‘Red Line’), took place in The Hague, Netherlands. It was the first time in over 20 years that more than 100,000 people participated in a political demonstration in our country. It was organized by various activist organizations, such as Oxfam Novib, The Rights Forum, Save the Children, Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders. Most of the protesters were dressed in red-colored clothes, a symbol that we want to draw a red line, meaning no more financial support for Israel which is committing genocide in Gaza. It’s a message to our government that we want change. We are ashamed that the Dutch government still supports Israel. In our country it’s a major scandal that Geert Wilders, the far-right leader of the largest political party in the Netherlands, even supports Israel’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, in other words to remove all Palestinians from Gaza. By the way, Geert wilders blocked me on Twitter, aka x.com, because I criticized his aggressive and racist statements towards black and brown people living in the Netherlands. Anyway, during the demonstration on May 18th we walked from Malieveld, a large public park where we gathered, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace and then we walked to Binnenhof (a large building complex for the Dutch Parliament, official name ‘States General’, and the office of the Prime Minister) and then back to Malieveld. In total this walk was about 4 kilometers long. The next day I did feel some muscle pain in my legs, but I’m glad I participated. It was definitely worth it and one of the most important things I’ve done in my life. It was also the first time I took part in a demonstration. I live in Delft, a city right next to The Hague, so it was only about a 15 minute train ride to get there. I know The Hague very well because I was born and raised there and lived there most of my life, so I knew exactly where to go. I had told my mother in advance that I would go to The Hague for the demonstration. She liked it, but also said ‘Be careful’. I understand that a mother will always be a little worried, no matter how old you are, but fortunately there were no disruptions during the demonstration. No clashes between activists and police. It was a peaceful and beautiful event. Everyone enjoyed it and was happy to be there. We were all united: white, brown, black, old and young. Yes, even children were there with their parents. Fathers and mothers pushing strollers. Together we made history.

When I was a child, my aunt (an older sister of my mother) lived on the same street as me, namely A. van der Tangstraat in the Houtwijk residential area of The Hague. Between 1986 and 1990, every time I visited my aunt’s house across the street, I saw two large posters on the window of her office. In fact, anyone walking or cycling down our street could see those posters. One poster read: ‘Laat geld terugstromen naar Afrika’, translated in English: ‘Let money flow back to Africa’. The other poster read: ‘Free Nelson Mandela!’, with a large photo of him. So I saw Nelson’s poster every day for years until he was finally released from prison in 1990. As we all know, he eventually ended apartheid in South Africa and became the first elected president under the new constitution. Mandela, an activist who fought against apartheid, was known as a terrorist by the elite (white European colonists) in South Africa for many years. They demonized him and held him captive for 27 years, but today Mandela is seen as a hero. So now 35 years later, thousands of people took part in a demonstration to show their support for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, who have been fighting against the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime since 1948 (the first Nakba). And it’s South Africa that has filed a case at the ICJ against the state of Israel for commiting crimes against humanity in Gaza. Of course, Israel and its ally the United States justify their war in Gaza because Hamas is seen as a terrorist organization by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli war cabinet, US presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, dozens of members of the US Congress and millions of Zionists worldwide. But according to many pro-Palestinian activists in Europe, the US and worldwide, Hamas is a militant resistance movement that has the right to receive support from the regime in Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. After Hamas attacked and killed hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023, I was shocked, like many other people in the Netherlands. So I used to condemn Hamas and I still think it’s wrong to kill so many innocent people in Israel, but now that I’ve read more about the history and suffering of the Palestinians, which has given me some more wisdom, I simply cannot condemn Hamas anymore. On 14 November 2024 Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, wrote on Twitter that up to 700 Palestinian children have been kidnapped by Isrealis each year for decades. So this could explain why many Palestinians have become vengeful toward Israel. On Twitter I have seen so many photos and videos of murdered or mutilated Palestinian men, women and children. The Isreali Occupation Forces (IOF), also known as Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has killed and maimed thousands of Palestinian children since 8 October 2023. Now that I have seen this and am aware that physical abuse was taking place before October 7, I understand that the Hamas attack of 10/7 is comparable to a slave rebellion. In the 19th century, during slavery, there were many slave revolts in Suriname, where my parents come from. The Maroons (rebellious Negroes) regularly attacked the plantations of Dutch slave owners, often only to free other African slaves. These attacks were very violent. But thanks to their fighting spirit and courage, slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1863. So I owe it to them that I was born a free black man. John Gabriel Stedman (1744 – 7 March 1797), officer of the Dutch States Army, wrote a book about the Maroons, entitled: ‘Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam’.

The genocidal war in Gaza has changed my view of the world, humanity and many countries, such as the US, UK and Germany, which have turned out to be the biggest financiers of Israel’s war. Germany is on the wrong side of history again. In World War 2 they were responsible for the Holocaust of European Jews and now in 2025 they are complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. On 21 November 2024 the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, former Minister of Defense of Israel, and yet on April 6 French President Emmanuel Macron, despite his support for a ceasefire in Gaza, allowed Netanyahu to fly over France without arresting him. Does this mean that some or many European political leaders are afraid to actually do something about Netanyahu? Do the Zionists have this much power in Europe and the US? I’m still in shock after watching members of the US Congress give more than 50 standing ovations to Netanyahu on 24 July 2024. Does it mean they all sold their souls to AIPAC? Has the US government been hijacked by Zionism? It’s pretty obvious that Donald Trump is a Zionist and a fascist and so is his nasty Vice President JD Vance. What they did to DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) is absolutely disgusting, because now we see how their anti-DEI policies have led to a rising unemployment rate among black people, especially black women in the US. By the way, billionaire Elon Musk, former Senior Advisor to the President and head of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), gave a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration on 20 January 2025. Wow! I’m still flabbergasted. I had a strong suspicion that he was a racist and a fascist, but I did not expect him to show it openly. During the 2024 US presidential election Netanyahu made it clear that he wanted Trump to win and he calls him the greatest friend of Israel. A few weeks after winning the election, February 26, Trump shared an AI generated video about Gaza on his Instagram account, showing plans for real estate developments in the Strip and calling it ‘Trump Gaza’. It’s the most bizarre thing I have seen in politics and it’s not funny. So what the hell is happening to US politics? I’m so disappointed in the US and humanity because it turns out that many people are really evil. I also notice that many celebrities (entertainers and influencers) choose to remain silent about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It makes me wonder if they would have been silent during the Holocaust in WWII or the Transatlantic African slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries. If so many people, even millions of Christians worldwide, or maybe we’d better call them Christian Zionists, not only white Christians but also many black and brown Christians, continue to support Israel’s genocidal war, I must live in a very evil world. So I wonder: ‘Are they real Christians?’ Probably not because I don’t think that the Christ, if he walked around on our planet today, would support the Zionists. I think he would support the Palestinians and identify with them because they are the indigenous people of the Southern Levant. They have lived there for hundreds of years and many of them are descendants of the Jewish communities of Judaea. The level of violence against them is frightening and reminds me of the genocide of the indigenous peoples living in North America, South America, the Caribbean and Australia. As a descendant of African slaves, referring to the African slave trade in Suriname, I know the meaning and impact of displacement. I understand what the Palestinians are going through. I often wonder why I live in such a violent world because I’m not like this at all. I don’t belong here! So obviously I’m not happy that I’m part of this world and I’ll be glad when my time on this planet is finally done. By the way, at the end of this article I will tell a special dream I had in 1998. Christ appeared in my dream.

There are no words to describe the atrocities in Gaza. The IOF killed more than 200 journalists. On Twitter I followed the account of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat (born 10 October 2001 – died 24 March 2025) since the beginning of the genocide. After more than a year he was reunited with his mother. They were so happy together, but a few weeks later he was hit by an Israeli airstrike while driving his car. The IOF claimed that he was not a real journalist, but a member of Hamas. All lies! Israel is only using Hamas as an excuse to commit genocide in Gaza because the real plan of Netanyahu and Trump is to create a Greater Israel. In other words, the Israelis want to annex more territory. They have already occupied the Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Not only Palestinian journalists, but also many doctors, nurses, paramedics, teachers, scientists and professional athletes have been killed in Gaza. For example, paramedics tried to rescue a little girl, Hind Rajab (3 May 2018 – 29 January 2024), from a car that was shelled by the IOF, but unfortunately they were all killed. And recently, on May 23, a Palestinian doctor, Alaa al-Najjar, lost 9 of her 10 children when they were all killed in an Israeli airstrike on their home. A few days later her husband, dr. Hamdi al-Najjar, died of his wounds. Only one child, her 11-year-old son Adam, survived, but he is seriously injured and in the hospital. Because of these atrocities in Gaza, we must continue to speak out against Zionism. I wonder why the UN and pro-Palestinian countries have not yet launched a military intervention to stop the war and genocide in Gaza. Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic. So who is really anti-Semitic? Actually, Palestinians are Semitic, because they are natives of the Southern Levant, while the majority of Israelis (white Jews of European descent) are not Semitic. So that means that Zionists are anti-Semitic because they oppress Palestinians. Ironically, they have become the Nazis of the 21st century. Zionists weaponized anti-Semitism to silence people critical of Israel and justify the murder of Palestinians, who have been compared to the people in Amalek (Amalekites, mentioned in the biblical books of Samuel and Deuteronomy) by Netanyahu on 28 October 2023. Furthermore, we must not forget that Zionists don’t represent all Jews, as there are many amazing Jewish people who reject Zionism. For example, Jewish American politicians Jill Stein (Green Party) and Bernie Sanders (Democratic Party) are highly critical of Zionism. And in Israel too, there are many Jews who condemn the current war in Gaza. So these Israelis are protesting against their own government and some young Jewish men and women are even refusing to join and serve in the IOF. On top of that, on May 27th former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, said that Netanyahu and his entire Israeli war cabinet are a criminal gang that is committing war crimes in Gaza. In fact, this war does not help the Jewish people at all because it only creates more tension. Israeli politicial leaders are making life harder for Jews worldwide. I do think that hatred of Jews has increased, but that’s the fault of the fascist genocidal war cabinet in Israel. Let’s not forget that Islamophobia has also increased in the last 24 years after 9/11 in New York (which by the way turned out to be an inside job) and is really at its peak right now. Both Trump and former US president Biden showed very little empathy for the Palestinians in Gaza, while thousands of innocent civilians have been killed there. I know this has happened before, for example during the US war in Iraq in 2003-2011, but the difference is that this time in Gaza, many of the atrocities were live streamed on Twitter and other social media. We are all eyewitnesses to it now, because we can see it all on our smartphones. It’s mind-boggling that so many people who claim to be Christians, e.g. Trump and Biden, are giving the Israeli government a green light to slaughter Palestinian children. Didn’t Christ teach you to love your neighbor? What happened to that? That’s why I’m glad that the late Pope Francis openly said that Israel’s war in Gaza is terrorism and that he continued to push for a ceasefire, supported the Palestinians and called a Christian church in Gaza City every day.

Back in 2014 I made a video about nuclear disarmament and published it on YouTube and Vimeo. Sadly, in today’s world this dream seems far away again, as the threat of nuclear war has become quite great. In my video I also talked about Netanyahu and said that I did not like him because his speech at the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September 2013 was so aggressive, while the statement of Hassan Rouhani, former President of Iran, was much more peaceful. The contrast was so striking then. It was very clear that Netanyahu was warmongering and wanted to drag the US into a war with Iran, and he still does! If you listen to my reasoning in this 2014 video, you’ll notice that I was still brainwashed by my upbringing and the mainstream media, because the Netherlands was always very pro-Israel. So I learned this way of thinking in Dutch schools. In my video from 2014 I said I praised Israel for protecting LGBTQI rights and freedoms and for being the only gay-friendly country in the Middle East. Now I realize I was looking at Israel through rose-colored glasses. I’m embarrassed that I tried to pinkwash Israel. Of course, as a gay man I care about LGBTQI human rights, but I hate it when Israelis use LGBTQI to justify their genocidal war in Gaza. Now I see Israel for what it really is and it turns out to be anything but a democracy. It’s an apartheid state where Palestinians and black Africans are often discriminated against. Anyway, I was so happy to see that the activist group ‘Queers for Palestine’ was present at the Dutch demonstration on May 18th. That was a nice surprise. Yes!!! I’m so glad that many other gay men are standing up for the rights of the Palestinians. I know that practicing homosexuality is illegal in Palestine, but that does not give the Israelis the right to commit genocide against the entire population of Gaza. Israel, you will not fool us anymore! No more pinkwashing! We are wide awake now. Finally, I’d like to say that I used to be in favor of a two-state solution, but I am no longer. Now I think that Palestine should be freed from the river to the sea. Palestinians should have the right to live wherever they want in the Levant region. I’m not saying that all white Israelis should pack their bags and return to Europe or the US, as many of the younger generation were born in Israel. They can stay in the Southern Levant, but they will have to accept that they live in Palestine, not Israel. Stop stealing the land and homes of the Palestinians! Palestine must be completely decolonized, just like South Africa in the 1990s. But ultimately, the Palestinians must decide their own future. Even if the Palestinians and Hamas were to accept a two-state solution, I would still respect and support their decision. Hopefully better times will come soon for the Palestinians and most importantly, a permanent ceasefire. Stop the killing! Make love, not war!

I have mentioned the Holy Christ before, but I would like to elaborate on him. In November 1998 when I was 20 years old, Christ appeared in my dream. I recognized him because he looked exactly like the man I had met in a dream when I was 6 years old. He has appeared in many dreams since late 1984 or early 1985. So this started when I was 6. As a child and teenager I paid little attention to Christianity, so that’s why it’s all the more special to me that Christ appeared in my dreams, but I didn’t realize how special it was at the time, although I did write down my dreams on a piece of paper. So in this 1998 dream I had an out-of-body experience while I was sleeping in bed. I dreamed that I walked into a public building and sat down by myself in front of a large movie screen. As I waited for the movie to start, I felt my spirit leaving my body and the building. My spirit flew higher and higher into space where I could see millions of stars. In the distance I saw an angelic brown woman with long black curly hair, dressed in a long white dress, standing or floating among the stars in the cosmos. She looked at me. At first I thought she was my mother, but later I realized that she must have been another woman. I think she’s a real angel and probably the Holy Mother of Christ. After meeting her I continued and flew higher and higher until I saw a huge visual screen in the cosmos, which depicted an event from the past. At first it felt like I was watching a movie, but then I was in the movie, so this cosmic visual screen was like a time machine. Suddenly I was standing in a crowd and saw what a few Roman soldiers were doing to Christ, who was standing in a large square. It was the most horrific physical abuse I have ever seen, so I will not go into the details. He fell to the ground and for a moment I thought he was dead, but he never died and never gave up, so he resurrected right before our eyes, standing on his two feet again, because all his wounds were healed in a few seconds. Then I woke up. After this nightmare it was crystal clear to me that the Roman colonists in Judaea were very evil and racist towards the indigenous (Jewish) population and responsible for the death of Christ. The Romans were white men from Europe, specifically Italy. As far as I know, the Jewish communities of Judaea (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes) had nothing to do with the murder of Christ, so Christians today need to stop blaming the Jews for his death because that’s a lie. Probably there were only a few Jewish men who did not like him and saw his growing popularity as a threat, especially after the cleansing of the temple, but does that mean they all wanted to kill him? I doubt it. The majority of Jewish people loved him very much and welcomed him with open arms. I don’t know exactly what the role of Judas (one of the discipels) was in Holy Week. According to the New Testament he betrayed Christ on Holy Thursday, aka Maundy Thursday, but I don’t know if this really happened or was fabricated by the Romans, who became Christians only a few centuries later and perhaps wanted to clean their hands and blame the Jews for his death. The Roman Emperor Constantine I, also called Constantine the Great (born 25 July 306 – died 22 May 337), was the first Christian emperor and many scholars say that he ordered Eusebius of Caesarea, a Christian historian from Syria Palaestina (a Roman renaming for the province of Judaea in 136-390 AD), to publish the Codex Vaticanus (a manuscript of the Greek Bible) around 300-350 AD. I assume this is one of the earliest published versions of the Bible. It is preserved in the Vatican. Another early version from the 4th century, the Codex Sinaiticus (with Alexandrian text-type), is preserved in the British Library. The reason I say this is because I think we need to be aware that the Bible was probably written to serve the interests of the Roman Empire, which meant that Bible texts had to be approved by the emperors. “So don’t be too negative about the Romans in the Bible!” I guess this was the message that Christian historians received from the Roman emperors. So based on my common sense I assume that this so called Holy Book was manipulated by the Roman elite. Since the emperors were white men from Europe, I wonder if they also commissioned visual artists to whitewash Christ and depict him in paintings as a white European rather than a brown or black Nazarene from Judaea. So the indigenous population of Judaea, aka Syria Palaestina, aka modern-day Palestine, has been oppressed for a very long time. And we, believers of Christianity, have been manipulated and brainwashed for centuries. So here we are in 2025! Today the genocidal Zionists in Israel and the US Empire (or the United States of Israel???) are just as manipulative as the Romans. But unfortunately, they are even more violent and dangerous than the Romans and the German Nazis because current weapons technology (e.g. drones) is much more advanced and they openly pride themselves on killing Palestinians. So Zionists must be stopped at all costs. And I’m talking about Jewish Zionists and Christian Zionists. They are the synagogue and church of Satan. They say they are Jews or Christians, but they are not! Christ began as a follower of John the Baptist, probably an Essene. It is said that the Essenes disapprove of violence, so I think that Christ would agree that a true Jew or Christian would never rape the ancient land of the Southern Levant with thousands of bombs. According to experts, the total bombing of Gaza is equivalent to six Hiroshimas. Today over 80% of the Strip is destroyed. It’s sacrilege! Only racist Satanists would disrespect and rape the Southern Levant! They have not only disturbed the peace of the Palestinians, but also the peace of millions of animals and ancient nature spirits living in the Southern Levant. They are all refugees now. Displaced!

The Dutch demonstration on May 18 also affected me personally, even though I don’t live in the Southern Levant, because in July/August 2023 I bought a holiday apartment in Hurghada, Egypt. I don’t want parts of Egypt, such as Hurghada, to become part of Greater Israel. This is what far-right political leaders such as Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance in Israel, want. At the end of my Red Line video I included a song called ‘Put them in their cage’ that I wrote in 1992 when I was 13 years old and being bullied in high school. On May 30th I made a brand new recording (a cappella) while cooking in my apartment kitchen. I decided to play this song at the end of the video because the lyrics really sum up how I feel about these evil genocidal Zionist world leaders and everyone who supports them. Put them in jail!

PUT THEM IN THEIR CAGE (lyrics)

Horses need to run free.
Birds need to fly over the sea.
Some people will try to take away your freedom.
Don’t believe their good intentions.
Blinding lights tricking your eyes.
That’s what they will try.
And you feel something ain’t right.
So defend your territory!
Put them in their cage! Criminals!
Put them in their cage!
If there’s not another way to live your life with some grace.
Put them in their cage! Aha ah!
Put them in their cage! Aha ah!
If they misbehave, I’ll show them their place.
Put them in their cage!
Lock them up, lock them up, lock them up!
Lock them up, lock them up, lock them up!

Click on the audio file below to listen to the song.

Thank you for reading this new article on my blog.

Ryan Maurice Roemer
Written between May 29 and June 2, 2025

Please comply with copyright laws by not reproducing, photographing or distributing any part of this article in any form without permission.

All rights reserved.

If you’d like to listen to my 2014 podcast video on nuclear disarmament, click on the link below.

https://ryanmauriceroemer.com/2014/03/23/the-2014-nuclear-security-summit-in-the-hague-fight-for-nuclear-disarmament/

If you’d like to read more articles about the Dutch demonstration on May 18 and some other topics I discussed, click on the links below.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/19/tens-of-thousands-protest-in-the-hague-to-demand-dutch-government-action-on-gaza-war
https://www.reuters.com/world/tens-thousands-protest-hague-against-gaza-war-2025-05-18/
https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1924164411775914122
https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1856865954472264117?lang=en
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-criticised-allowing-netanyahus-plane-use-its-airspace
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gabriel_Stedman
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGhfpgHsOg6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/25/on-a-journey-family-mourns-hossam-shabat-journalist-killed-by-israel
https://x.com/hossamshabat?lang=en
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/on-her-7th-birthday-we-know-who-killed-hind-rajab-and-were-taking-them-to-court
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-doctor-receives-bodies-her-seven-children-while-duty
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0eq9lq7xr1o
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231029-netanyahu-declares-holy-war-against-gaza-citing-the-bible/
https://www.gov.il/en/pages/statement-by-pm-netanyahu-28-oct-2023
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-05-27/ty-article-opinion/.premium/enough-is-enough-israel-is-committing-war-crimes/00000197-0dd6-df85-a197-0ff64a5c0000
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/27/former-israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-says-his-country-is-committing-war-crimes
https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-israel-hamas-war-gaza-31f1755f8426ec81cb07b29bff3db70e
https://www.bradford.ac.uk/news/archive/2025/gaza-bombing-equivalent-to-six-hiroshimas-says-bradford-world-affairs-expert.php
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241120-smotrich-has-confirmed-that-the-quest-for-greater-israel-is-real/
https://www.facebook.com/MiddleEastEye/videos/in-a-documentary-produced-by-arte-israeli-finance-minister-bezalel-smotrich-says/1044626283657314/

Here are some interesting articles for people who can also read Dutch.

https://nos.nl/collectie/13959/artikel/2567762-massaal-protest-in-den-haag-tegen-israel-standpunt-kabinet-rustig-verlopen
https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/stop-de-aanvallen-of-verwarde-mensen-politici-verdeeld-na-protest-100-000-demonstranten-voor-gaza~a4572127/
https://www.oxfamnovib.nl/rode-lijn
https://www.savethechildren.nl/praktische-informatie-rode-lijn-18-mei-den-haag-malieveld?cta_referrer=banner2
https://rightsforum.org/op-3-mei-gedenken-we-hind-rajab-en-spreken-we-de-regering-aan/
https://nvj.nl/actueel/hossam-shabat-een-aangekondigde-moord-in-gaza
https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/arts-alaa-verliest-negen-van-haar-tien-kinderen-bij-luchtaanval-gaza-alleen-11-jarige-adam-overleeft~a12c0569/

Gaza is like a modern concentration camp in the 21st century. Save the Palestinians!

Back in 1997 I met a Holocaust survivor.
Actually, I wanted to publish this story on
National Remembrance Day in Holland in
May 2024. Since there’s a war in Gaza right
now, I thought it might be a better idea to
discuss this topic now. I also believe that
God doesn’t want me to wait until next
year. Therefore, this article is now being
completed.

A long time ago I met a Holocaust survivor.
At that time I was an 18 year old student.
Early in the morning my stepfather told me
the bad news of Diana, Princess of Wales,
killed in the most horrific car accident in
Paris. I was so shocked and got up from
my bed and went downstairs to watch the
news on TV together with my parents. It
was such a sad start to the day. After the
news I went to shower and prepare for my
trip from The Hague to Leiden University.

So on 31 August 1997 I was waiting at the
bus stop near the intersection of Sportlaan
and Savornin Lohmanlaan in The Hague.
A much older woman, in her 90s, walked
to the bus stop. She walked with a walker.
She was a small woman with a sparkle in
her eyes and a big bright smile. She had a
light complexion and dark grey medium
length hair. She soon started talking to me
because we were alone and bus 4 (= No. 24
since 2004) was late. She revealed she was
Jewish and a survivor of the Holocaust.
She was in a concentration camp during
World War II and was the only survivor
in her family. All her relatives had died in
a concentration camp. My heart goes out
to this wonderful human being, a stranger,
and her family. Honestly, I don’t even know
her name. I guess she’s not alive anymore,
but I will tell her story to remind people
how evil Hitler was. The Holocaust is not
a lie. It really happened. I know this. It’s
the only time in my life that a survivor
opened up to me about the Holocaust.
And once you’ve heard a story like this,
you will never forget it.

Why did it happen? The Nazis believed that
blond blue-eyed Caucasian people were
descended from the Aryan gods who used
to live on Atlantis, a lost island, according
to mythology. The Nazis deemed all other
darker ‘races’ inferior. Hitler sold such a
big lie to so many people and caused so
much confusion, heartbreak and death.
Learn from the past! We should cancel his
racist worldview. It’s a lie that blond blue-
eyed people descend from Atlantis. The
truth is there are multiple ethnicities, but
there’s only one human race. According
to science homo sapiens (= early modern
human) comes from Africa. That’s where
it all started 300.000 years ago, before they
started migrating. All people around the
world are Africans originally.

So I hereby declare I feel great compassion
for Jewish communities all over the world,
but I also feel great empathy for the Muslim
communities in the Middle East. It’s known
that after World War II the State of Israel was
founded by the Zionists in 1948. Back at high
school I used to think this was a great thing
for Jewish people because of the Holocaust,
but now that I’m older and hopefully wiser,
I have become aware the Zionists created
an apartheid state which is so racist towards
Arab Palestinians and black people in the
Southern Levant. As an African Surinamese
man I just have to be really honest about
this topic because I know the history of the
transatlantic African slave trade and the
history of colonialism. It’s very well known
that Western European nations colonized
North America, South America, Caribbean
islands, Australia and many countries in Asia,
the Middle East and Africa in the previous
centuries. Do you remember when Native
Americans lost all their land to Western
European settlers? Well, this is the same
situation. The hard truth is that the warlike
Zionists, who are mostly white people from
the continents of Europe & North America,
colonized the land of the Palestinians and
they look very different from the original
Jewish people in the land of Canaan. The
original Israelites looked similar to black
Africans such as Egyptians. They did not
look like people from Western Europe at
all. They were not blond like Dutch people.
There might have been a few exceptions of
Israelites who had a lighter complexion, but
generally they looked similar to Egyptians.
They even lived in Ancient Egypt for a long
time according to Exodus in Old Testament.
I think the original Israelites were actually
Egyptians, but they were discriminated and
oppressed by the other Egyptians because
they had converted to a monotheistic faith,
probably introduced by Pharaoh Akhenaten
who reigned around 1353 – 1336 BC and was
a very controversial figure in Egypt. At that
time, Canaan was part of the New Kingdom
of Egypt. So I think that a group of Egyptians
left Akhetaten (Amarna) and went to Canaan
where they created their own Jewish culture
and Hebrew language over the years. So I
think the Bible doesn’t tell the truth. It’s even
possible that Moses was an alias for Pharaoh
Akhenaten. Based on his statues, I think he
was a black African.

Canaan underwent many changes over the
centuries and it was colonized many times.
For example, Canaan used to be part of the
Akkadian Empire (c. 2334 – 2154 BC) and the
New Kingdom of Egypt (c. 1550 – 1069 BC),
the Kingdom of Israel (c. 1047 – 930 BC) and
the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911 – 609 BC) and
the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 – 539 BC),
the Achaemenid Empire (550 – 330 BC), the
Macedonian Empire (335 – 323 BC) and the
Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 330) with Rome
as its capital, the Byzantine Empire or also
called Eastern Roman Empire (330 – 1453)
with Constantinople as its capital. And then
finally the Islamic world (624 – present). So
many different peoples have lived in Canaan
during those empires, such as the Amorites,
the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Hittites,
the Israelites, the Greeks, the Romans and
the Arabs. So this region must have been
a multicultural society since ancient times.
So why should only one nation be allowed
to own the land of Canaan today? Well, this
doesn’t make any sense. It’s just not fair!
For many centuries Jewish people lived in
Europe. Many Jews moved to the USA. The
majority of Jews from Europe and the USA
are white people whose ancestors come
from Europe. Their ancestors converted to
Judaism, so they’re not descended from the
ancient Israelites. Many Jews from Eastern
Europe moved to Western Europe where
they mixed with blonde Europeans. That’s
why you see many blonde Jews these days.
And now after many centuries they want
to ‘return’ to Canaan and oppress natives
(Palestinians) who have lived in this region
since the 7th century and probably even
earlier. Jewish people from Judaea may well
be the ancestors of the Palestinians. So the
Israeli oppression is absolutely wrong and
it must stop now! We must free Palestine.
For hundreds of years the indigenous Jewish
inhabitants and the Arab Muslims had lived
together peacefully, but then everything
changed when those British Zionists came
and colonized Palestine in the 20th century.
The Palestinians have lost so much land.
I hope the Israelis and Palestinians will find
a way to share the land with each other and
also with immigrants such as the Eritreans,
Sudanese and Ethiopians. Sadly, they are
treated like second class citizens in Israel.
According to some reporters and many
colored residents there’s white supremacy
in Israel which means that I would be a
second or third class citizen if I lived there.
So white Jewish British families, after living
in Europe for many centuries, could ‘return’
to Israel and earn all kinds of privileges in
the ‘Holy Land’, but a Jewish Ethiopian kid
is not welcome there??? Obviously, Zionists
would like to turn Israel into a country for
white people. This is ethnic cleansing, so
be vigilant! By the way, could you imagine
that one day milions of African Americans,
after living in the Americas and Caribbean
for 400 years, would decide to return to
Congo and Ghana and try to steal the land
from indigenous people there??? It’s just
unthinkable because it’s crazy and immoral
to do something like that. On top of that,
many African Americans don’t even look like
their West African ancestors anymore. They
would be seen as invaders by the natives.

I love that Israel is the only country in the
Middle East region where people from the
LGBTQI community are free to be who they
really are. I understand this need because
I am a gay man myself, but the freedom of
LGBTQI and the freedom of Jewish people
should not be used for the foundation of an
apartheid state that’s racist to Palestinians
and other people of color. This is not right!
So when I think back to my meeting with the
old Jewish woman in August 1997, I wonder
what she would think of the current war in
Gaza Strip now because I know there are
some other Holocaust survivors who have
been interviewed on tv and they don’t like
what’s happening in Gaza Strip. But I guess
she’s not alive anymore. Hopefully, she lives
in a more beautiful and peaceful world right
now where she has been united with her lost
relatives after such a long time and after so
many years of deep loneliness and yearning.
I also wonder what Yeshua (the Christ) thinks
of this current situation in Gaza. Well, even
though he himself might have been Jewish,
I guess he would still call the Palestinians his
brothers and sisters. He would say: ‘Let the
children come to me.’ I’m sure he meant all
the children, including Palestinian children,
black children and white children.

Stop antisemitism and Islamophobia! And
stop oppressing and killing the Palestinians!
They should have the right and freedom
to live wherever they want in the Southern
Levant, just like every other person in that
region. This has been their land for a really
long time, hundreds of years. According to
history the Arabs have lived in this region
since the 7th century AD and possibly even
earlier. Moreover, some Palestinian kids
may have Jewish ancestors. So free Gaza
and free Palestine! I hope that a two-state
solution will become a reality in the near
future. Sadly, the Palestinians have lived
under illegal occupation since 1948. I was
not even born yet. So on October the 7th
I celebrated my 45th birthday with family.
Well, since that day Gaza’s situation has
become even worse. Right now I feel so
very disappointed in humanity. Everyday I
see horrific images from the war in Gaza.
Of course the terrorist attack of Hamas on
October 7 was evil and wrong. I feel sad
that so many innocent Israeli people lost
their lives. Make sure that violence is never
the answer to solve our problems because
when you do use violence, then you’re not
any better than the aggressor/perpetrator.
Hamas should release all Israeli hostages
and Israel should release the many 100s of
Palestinian children, women and men that
Zionists have been kidnapping for decades.
And what the Israelis are doing in Gaza right
now is terrorism too! Western media such
as CNN show a very one-sided narrative.
They only seem to feel compassion for the
loss of Israeli lives. Dead Palestinians get
less attention or no attention at all. I read
that half of the Palestinian population is
under 18 years old. Well, all these innocent
children will be traumatized for the rest of
their lives. Even babies are being killed right
now. It’s insane! It’s a shame that Benjamin
Netanyahu compares the Palestinians to
the Amalek people from the Hebrew Bible.
The Old Testament is a collection of violent
warmongering stories that should not serve
as moral guidance for people in the 21st
century. We should be wiser now and be
able to show compassion for one another.

The dehumanization and demonization of
Palestinians by Netanyahu is so shocking.
He talks like Adolf Hitler. He is a psychopath!
I think it is a perfect example of the victim
becoming the perpetrator. When a victim
was sexually abused as a child, sometimes
that child when he/she is grown up will do
the same abusive things to other children.
It might be an attempt to regain the (sexual)
power that he/she once lost as a little child.
So the Jews were the victims in the Second
World War, but then after the founding of
the State of Israel, with the help of Zionists
from the UK and USA, they actually became
the perpetrator/oppressor in Palestine. It’s
so very sad that this big trauma from WWII
pushed some Jews in the wrong direction.
I think this is not real Judaism because true
Judaism is more compassionate.

I live in Holland, so I don’t know everything
that happens in Gaza and the West Bank.
For daily news about this region I depend
on news sources such as Al Jazeera English,
BBC News, Sky News, The Young Turks and
The Grayzone. I think it’s very touching to
see so many protests all over the world and
even in the USA. For the first time I see so
many people, thousands of people, standing
up for the rights and freedom of children
in Palestine. There are also so many Jewish
people who disapprove of the cruel actions
of Netanyahu and his fascist regime. Many
Jews oppose Zionism and support a free
Palestine. News channel ‘Democracy Now!’
has a great video about a Jewish American
protest taking place at the main terminal of
Grand Central Station in New York City. So
this demonstration was led by the Jewish
Voice for Peace. I believe this must be the
real Judaism and that gives me some hope
for the future of Palestinians. But it’s just so
heartbreaking to see that a large crowd of
Muslims wanted to attack Israeli citizens in
an airplane arriving at an airport in Russia.
This is antisemitism! We should condemn
this hunting for Jews and try to remember
that most Jews are innocent civilians just
like the Palestinians. It’s their evil leaders
who are creating endless brutal wars for
the sheep. Netanyahu should be cancelled!
He is a war criminal. The Palestinians have
lived in an open-air prison for years. They
actually live in a cage because they can’t
get out. It’s like a modern concentration
camp. They can’t even get water, food or
electricity. All communications have been
cut off, so they cannot use their phones
or the internet. It’s pretty clear Netanyahu
wants them to suffer silently without the
rest of the world knowing all the details.
This is such a major humanitarian crisis,
so this region needs a ceasefire now!

The United Nations General Assembly called
for a humanitarian truce in Israel-Gaza war.
120 countries voted in favour of a truce and
14 countries (such as the USA and Israel)
voted against it and 45 countries abstained,
including the Netherlands! Well, I feel so
ashamed that my country did not have the
balls to vote. Obviously, the government of
the Netherlands is afraid to lose their good
relationship with the USA if they let them
down. The Netherlands is like the lapdog
of the USA. Our political leaders preferred
an abstention. Well, this is very cowardly.
Just remember that many people in the
Netherlands oppose the war in Gaza and
want a ceasefire now! Suriname is a country
in South America and that’s where both my
parents come from. My mother and I are
African Surinamese immigrants in the
Netherlands, although I was born in the
Netherlands. But Suriname definitely had
the balls to vote in favor of a truce. Thank
you, Suriname! That’s great! I’m also happy
to see that countries such as Egypt and
Jordan prefer a truce. I would also like to
give a shout out to Belgium, because the
Belgian political leaders had the balls to
vote for a truce. Well done, Belgium!

The USA military empire in the Middle East
is the great catalyst of wars in that region.
Why are there USA army bases in countries
in the Middle East? Armies in Afghanistan,
Iraq, Syria, Qatar and UAE? It’s so confusing!
The USA always wants to lecture Russia, but
what they have done to indigenous people
in the Middle East is even worse. And don’t
you forget that one million Iraqi people died
in the USA war with Iraq after the American
president George W. Bush told the world
lies about the presence of weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq in 2003. The USA needs
to get out of the Middle East! Stop lecturing
people in the Middle East! The people there
are descended from the oldest civilizations
in the world. They really don’t need the USA
to tell them what’s right or wrong. By the
way, the USA is not a role model for other
countries. I love music from the USA and
there are many great people coming from
this country and I enjoyed going on vacation
to Chicago, Iowa, Orlando, Miami and New
York and I’ve met a lot of nice Americans too.
They welcomed me in their country. But I do
not approve of the politics of their leaders in
the Middle East. So in this article I decided
to give my unapologetic opinion about the
situation in Gaza and the role of the USA in
this war. The unconditional support to Israel
makes the USA complicit in the massacre
and genocide taking place in Gaza right now.
Over 8000 Palestinians have died since 10/7.
It’s not my intention to hurt the feelings of
Americans, but if they are hurt by my article,
then so be it. It’s much more important that
I speak from my heart and give my honest
opinion about the Israel-Gaza war since so
many lives of children are at stake now. We
have to speak up! So bring George W. Bush,
Tony Blair, Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton
(for the mess they created in Libya in 2011),
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Isaac Herzog and
Netanyahu to justice at the International
Criminal Court in The Hague for all the war
crimes they committed in the Middle East!

Last but not least, the current situation in
Gaza is a test for the whole human race on
this planet. The Palestinians are not donkeys
that you can push across the country. They
are human beings just like everyone else. To
some extent I can imagine what Palestinians
are going through because my West African
ancestors were treated like servile animals
by Dutch colonists in Suriname. So this is a
big wake up call. If you condone this war, you
might lose your humanity and start crawling
on the ground like a wild animal just like the
Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II did
when he lost his mind for seven years. This
story comes from the Book of Daniel in the
Hebrew Bible. According to the last known
Uruk tablet from Nebuchadnezzar’s reign
he died on 7 October 562 BC.

Written by Ryan Maurice Roemer
September-October 2023

For more information click on Al Yazeera video link down below.
Israel intensifies attacks: Gaza residents ask why are Western leaders waiting

For more information click on Al Yazeera news link down below.
UNGA calls for humanitarian truce in Israel-Gaza war: How countries voted

For more information click on Sky News video link down below.
Israel-Hamas war: ‘We will fight and we will win’, says Benjamin Netanyahu

For more information click on TeleSUR video link down below.
Empire Files: Anti-Black Racism Reveals Israel’s White Supremacy

For more information click on VICE News video link down below.
Why Ethiopian Jews Are Building a Movement Against Racism in Israel

For more information click on Democracy Now! news link down below.
“Not in Our Name”: 400 Arrested at Jewish-Led Sit-in at NYC’s Grand Central Demanding Gaza Ceasefire

if you’re interested in more articles that I wrote, then take a look at this:
The Dutch King’s apology for slavery in Suriname and Caribbean during the rise of anti-woke sentiments in the Netherlands