How culpable were Dutch Jews in the slave trade?

By Cnaan Liphshiz and Iris TzurDecember 26, 2013

Amsterdam musicians dressing up as Blac !ete, the sla"e #$ the Dutch %anta Claus, %inter laas& 'Cnaan Liphshiz( THE HAGUE, Netherlands JTA! " #n a busy street near the Dutch $arlia%ent, three white %usicians in blac&'ace re(ale passersby with holiday tunes about the Dutch )anta *laus, )inter&laas, and his slave, Blac& $ete+ ,any native Dutch%en view dressin( up as Blac& $ete in Dece%ber as a venerable tradition, but others consider it a racist a''ront to victi%s o' slavery+ -ith Holland %ar&in( the ./0th anniversary o' abolition this year, the controversy over Blac& $ete has reached new hei(hts+ Hundreds de%onstrated a(ainst the custo% in A%sterda% last %onth, and %ore than 1 %illion si(ned a petition supportin( it+ Throu(h it all, Dutch Jews " so%e o' who% celebrate their own version o' the Blac& $ete custo%, called 2Hanu&&laas3 " have lar(ely re%ained silent+

But that chan(ed in #ctober, when 4ody van de 5a%p, an unconventional #rthodo6 rabbi, wrote a scathin( criti7ue about it on 8epublie& Allochtonie, a Dutch news9and9opinion website+ 2The portrayal o' :$eter the slave; dates bac& to a period when we as citi<ens did not %eet the social criteria that bind us today,3 =an de 5a%p wrote+ )pea&in( out a(ainst Blac& $ete is part o' what van de 5a%p calls his social %ission, an e''ort that e6tends to re%indin( Dutch Jews o' their ancestors; deep involve%ent in the slave trade+ >n April, he is set to publish a boo& about Dutch Jewish co%plicity in the slave trade, an e''ort he hopes will sensiti<e Jews to slavery in (eneral and to the Blac& $ete issue in particular+ 2> wrote the boo& and > (ot involved in the Blac& $ete debate because o' what > learned 'ro% %y Dutch predecessors on what it %eans to be a rabbi " na%ely, to spea& about social issues, not only (ive instructions on how to coo& on )habbat,3 van de 5a%p told JTA+ 2,oney was earned by Jewish co%%unities in )outh A%erica, partly throu(h slavery, and went to Holland, where Jewish ban&ers handled it,3 he said+ 2Non9Jews were also co%plicit, but so were we+ > 'eel partly co%plicit+3 Thou(h he holds no o''icial position in the Dutch Jewish co%%unity, van de 5a%p, ?/, is a%on( the best9&nown #rthodo6 rabbis in the Netherlands, a status earned throu(h his several boo&s on Dutch Jewry and 're7uent %edia appearances+ His 'orthco%in( boo&, a historical novel entitled 2The Jewish )lave,3 'ollows an .@th9century Jewish %erchant and his blac& slave as they investi(ate Dutch9owned plantations north o' Bra<il in the hope o' persuadin( Jews to divest 'ro% the slave trade+ >n researchin( the boo&, van de 5a%p discovered data that shoc&ed hi%+

)abbi L#d* "an de +amp

>n one area o' what used to be Dutch Guyana, A0 Jewish9owned plantations were ho%e to a

total population o' at least /,000 slaves, he says+ 5nown as the Jodensavanne, or Jewish )avannah, the area had a Jewish co%%unity o' several hundred be'ore its destruction in a slave uprisin( in .@B1+ Nearly all o' the% i%%i(rated to Holland, brin(in( their accu%ulated wealth with the%+ )o%e o' that wealth was on display last year in the cellar o' A%sterda%;s $ortu(uese )yna(o(ue, part o' an e6hibition celebratin( the riches o' the syna(o(ue;s i%%i(rant 'ounders+ =an de 5a%p says the e6hibition spar&ed his interest in the Dutch Jewish role in slavery, which was robust+ #n the *aribbean island o' *uracao, Dutch Jews %ay have accounted 'or the resale o' at least ./,000 slaves landed by Dutch transatlantic traders, accordin( to )ey%our Drescher, a historian at the University o' $ittsbur(h+ At one point, Jews controlled about .C percent o' the *aribbean trade in Dutch colonies, Drescher said+ Jews were so in'luential in those colonies that slave auctions scheduled to ta&e place on Jewish holidays o'ten were postponed, accordin( to ,arc 4ee 8aphael, a pro'essor o' Judaic studies at the *olle(e o' -illia% D ,ary+ >n the United )tates, the Jewish role in the slave trade has been a %atter o' scholarly debate 'or nearly two decades, pro%pted in part by e''orts to re'ute the Nation o' >sla%;s clai% that Jews do%inated the Atlantic slave trade+ But in Holland, the issue o' Jewish co%plicity is rarely discussed+ 2This is because we in the Netherlands only pro'ited 'ro% slavery but have not seen it in our own eyes,3 van de 5a%p said+ 2The A%erican e6perience is di''erent+3 The slavery issue is not van de 5a%p;s 'irst 'oray into controversial territory+ >n Jewish circles, he has a reputation as a contrarian with a penchant 'or voicin( anti9establish%ent views+ That i%a(e was rein'orced last year when he spo&e out a(ainst a co%pro%ise the Dutch Jewish co%%unity had reached with the (overn%ent over &osher slau(hter+ Desi(ned to avert a total ban, the co%pro%ise placed so%e restrictions on &osher slau(hter that Holland;s chie' rabbis said did not violate Jewish law+ =an de 5a%p denounced the deal as an unacceptable in'rin(e%ent on reli(ious 'reedo%+ ,ore recently, he an(ered Dutch activists by su((estin( that vili'yin( Dutch ,usli%s helped (enerate anti9)e%itis%+ He also advocated dialo(ue with pro'essed ,usli% anti9)e%ites at a ti%e when Jewish (roups were callin( 'or their prosecution+ But his reputation as a %averic& rabbi in a consensusEoriented co%%unity has also endeared van de 5a%p to so%e supporters+ 2He is in a lea(ue o' his own,3 says Bart -allet, an A%sterda% University historian and e6pert on Jewish history+ 2Fro% the sideline, he is 'ree to critici<e and does not have to con'or% to

anythin(+3

Almost 30 million people worldwide live as slaves

Nearly B0 %illion people across the (lobe live as %odern9day slaves, accordin( to a new report+ ,any are 'orced into bein( child brides, child soldiers, prostitutes, or laborers+ >ndia accounts 'or nearly hal' o' the worldwide total+ The Global )lavery >nde6, released by the Australian9based -al&9Free Foundation, investi(ated .?1 countries and discovered slaves in every sin(le one+ The hu%an ri(hts or(ani<ation ran&ed the nations in order o' prevalence o' %odern slavery per head o' population+ The inde6 esti%ates that around 1G+@ %illion people across the world have been tra''ic&ed 'or labor or se6 wor&+ The nation with the hi(hest level o' slavery per head o' population is ,auritania+ -ith a population o' B+@ %illion, about ./.,000 people E al%ost 'our percent E are enslaved+ *hild %arria(e and chattel slavery are the two %ost co%%on types o' slavery in the country+

8eutersH,oha%ed al9)aya(hi Haiti is the second country on the list with 10G,000 slaves+ $a&istan 'ollows with 1+. %illion enslaved+ Forced labor, debt bonda(es, 'orced %arria(e, and child e6ploitation are the %ost co%%on threats in both countries+

A (roup o' rescued wor&ers stand outside a police station a'ter they were saved 'ro% a bric& &iln in 4in'en, northern *hina;s )han6i province 1C ,ay 100C+ $olice said .A June that they had rescued %ore than 100 people, includin( 1G children, who were wor&in( as 2slaves3 in bric& &ilns, in a shoc&in( revelation o' labour practices in boo%in( *hina+ AF$ $hoto! >ndia is 'ourth on the list with up to .A+C %illion people, which accounts 'or al%ost hal' o' the world;s slaves+ Accordin( to the survey, ten countries account 'or three97uarters o' the world;s slaves+ Those nations are *hina, >ndia, Ni(eria, Ethiopia, 8ussia, Thailand, the De%ocratic 8epublic o' *on(o, ,yan%ar, ,auritania, and Ban(ladesh+ )lavery can still be hereditary, the report says+ 2Today so%e people are still bein( born into hereditary slavery, a sta((erin( but harsh reality, particularly in parts o' -est A'rica and )outh Asia+3 #ther victi%s are captured or &idnapped be'ore bein( sold or &ept 'or e6ploitation, whether throu(h :%arria(e,; unpaid labor on 'ishin( boats, or as do%estic wor&ers+ #thers are tric&ed and lured into situations they cannot escape, with 'alse pro%ises o' a (ood Iob or an education,3 the survey continues+ The country ran&in(s show that rich, developed countries have the lowest rates o' slavery+ 8ule o' law, (overn%ent policies, and political stability also decrease the rate o' slavery within a nation+

Five9year9old 8ina brea&s stones in )ili(uri in this picture ta&en )epte%ber 1, 100A+ 8ina has been a pro'essional roc& brea&er 'or a year, slavin( si6 days a wee& in the sappin( heat and hu%idity o' -est Ben(al+ 8eutersH5a%al 5ishore! The Global )lavery >nde6 adds co%prehensive data to the topic o' slavery+ The Guardian published another recent investi(ation into slavery last %onth+ >t revealed that one construction wor&er a day dies while Jatar builds 'acilities 'or the 1011 F>FA -orld *up+ Accordin( to the report, desperate people 'ro% Nepal E one o' Asia;s poorest nations E %a&e up A0 percent o' Jatar;s laborers+ Between June A and Au(ust @, at least AA o' the% died, the newspaper said, citin( docu%ents obtained by the Nepalese E%bassy in Doha+ Jatar, alon( with other Gul' nations, uses the so9called 2&a'ala3 syste%, under which each 'orei(n wor&er hired in the country needs a sponsor E usually their e%ployer+ $er%ission 'ro% the sponsor is needed to enter or leave country, or to chan(e Iobs+ The co%pany is also responsible 'or issuin( >Ds, without which wor&ers are reduced to the status o' 'orei(n aliens with no le(al protection+ The syste% essentially leaves %i(rant wor&ers at the %ercy o' their e%ployers, who can withhold docu%ents and re'use to pay wa(es+ The wor&ers are then stranded and beco%e e6ploited, abused, and 'orced to wor& lon( hours in ha<ardous conditions+ Followin( the report, the United Nations conde%ned Jatar 'or 'ailin( to co%ply with an international convention bannin( the use o' 'orced labor+ Accordin( to one o' the provisions o' the docu%ent, si(natories %ust inspect wor&place conditions to ensure that the ri(hts o' wor&ers are not in'rin(ed upon+ Jatar beca%e a si(natory in 100C+