Press Release
“Israel” as a Colonial Project – and The Netherlands as Its Pillar

The withdrawal of Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC) from the government was quickly presented in the media as a principled step. As if the party had finally broken with policy because of the horrific suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. But that is a misconception. Their departure is not an expression of moral outrage, but of political calculation. It does not place NSC outside the colonial project called “Israel,” but rather shows how deeply they too are entangled in it.

“Israel” has, since its inception, been a colonial project, planted in the heart of the Muslim world. It was established and is maintained to divide the region, weaken it, and serve as an outpost for Western interests. The Netherlands has been part of this for decades. Whether VVD, BBB, or NSC: all of them recognize and support “Israel” as a state, and thereby the colonial project that has oppressed the Palestinian people for more than a century.

The difference between the current cabinet and NSC is purely cosmetic. The coalition openly supports Netanyahu’s genocidal policies, while NSC silently accepted them since its inception. Their problem was never with the occupation, the ethnic cleansing, or the colonial reality itself, but with the untenable way in which Netanyahu carried out his policies. Their departure is therefore not driven by solidarity with Gaza, but by three calculations: international pressure now that the UN openly speaks of genocide, domestic pressure after mass protests in The Hague, and electoral fear of ending up on the wrong side of history.

For the people of Palestine, nothing changes. The suffering has been dragging on for nearly two years. Tens of thousands have been killed, children are starving, and entire cities have been reduced to rubble. NSC stood by, watched, and remained silent. The moment they turned away was not when the injustice began, but when it became politically unsustainable to continue.

All this shows that The Netherlands is not merely an incidental ally of “Israel,” but an active pillar of the broader Western colonial project. “Israel” is not an ordinary state that happened to go astray; it is a project that from the very beginning embodied colonial logic. And as long as Dutch parties recognize and support that project, they are complicit in its continuation.

The liberation of Gaza will therefore never come from the so-called compassion of Western leaders. Not from The Hague, not from Brussels, not from Washington. These governments are not neutral referees, but the architects and guardians of the colonial structure that “Israel” represents in the Muslim world.

True liberation will come when Muslims themselves reject this project and unite. When the Ummah regains its unity and establishes its own political authority that does not bow to the West, but acts according to Islam. Only then will Palestine be liberated – and with it, the rest of humanity freed from the yoke of capitalism and colonial domination.

Okay Pala
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir
in The Netherlands