The Dutch Jewish community’s watchdog group on antisemitism on Friday called on the government to follow the example of the U.K. and ban the artist Ye, or Kanye West, from entering the Netherlands ahead of his planned concert in June.
“I think he should not receive a platform and that the U.K. reacted correctly and took good measures on Ye, a rapper who’s made many antisemitic statements, praises Nazism,” Naomi Mestrum, the director of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), told JNS.
Mestrum was reacting to a statement Wednesday by Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink, who told AFP in a reply to a query about Ye that he (the minister) was unaware of any ban to prevent Ye’s arrival.
Ye has apologized several times for some of his antisemitic language and symbolism.
In 2022, he told Fox News that Planned Parenthood, which facilitates abortions, “was made by Margaret Sanger, a known eugenic[ist] with the KKK, to control the Jew population,” adding that by “Jew” he meant blacks, who are the real Jews, according to the worldview he represented.
“West perpetuated the myth that Planned Parenthood was part of a conspiracy to limit the growth of the Black population by preventing the birth of Black children. But instead of saying the Black population, he called it the ‘Jew population,’” the American Jewish Committee said at the time.
Also in 2022, Ye wrote on social media: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
In May 2025, Ye released a song titled “Heil Hitler.” He also has advertised swastika T-shirts on his website.
On Jan. 26, 2026, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his behavior, blaming it on bipolar disorder. “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” he wrote. “I love Jewish people.”
Mestrum said she didn’t buy the apology. “The ignominy he generated looms so much larger than his saying ‘I’m sorry,’” she said.
Tijs van den Brink, a lawmaker for the Christian Democratic Appeal, a centrist party that is a member of the governing coalition and the party of van den Brink, told PowNews about Ye: “I think it would be better if he is kept away,” adding, “Right now, antisemitism is rising in the Netherlands, and it’s very inhospitable for Jews at times. So we need to do our best to keep such people out for now.”
The British Home Office on April 7 banned Ye from entering the country for a scheduled concert as part of the Wireless Festival. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week that it was “deeply concerning” that Ye had been booked to appear at a festival in the U.K despite “his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”
