Stephan van Baarle

Stephan Ruben Tobias van Baarle[2] (born 25 August 1991) is a Dutch politician. A member of the minority interest party DENK, he served on the Rotterdam municipal council from 2018 to 2022. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021 and succeeded Farid Azarkan as DENK's parliamentary leader two years later.

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Baarle, not Baarle.

Stephan van Baarle
Parliamentary leader of DENK in the House of Representatives
Assumed office
3 August 2023
Preceded byFarid Azarkan
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Member of the Rotterdam municipal council
In office
29 March 2018[1] – 29 March 2022
Personal details
Born
Stephan Ruben Tobias van Baarle

(1991-08-25) 25 August 1991
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Political partyDENK
Alma materErasmus University Rotterdam

Early life and education

He was born in 1991 in Rotterdam to a Dutch mother and a Turkish father.[3] Van Baarle was raised by his mother in the Rotterdam neighborhood Vreewijk and attended the high school Vreewijk Lyceum. He studied sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam and became a junior teacher at his university. He was also active for the Labour Party in 2014.[4]

Politics

In 2015, when DENK was established, Van Baarle started working as a policy officer for its House caucus and as director of its think tank Statera. He was one of the first members of DENK, which was founded by two MPs who had left the Labour Party the year before.[3][4] Van Baarle ran for member of parliament in the 2017 general election, being placed fifth on DENK's party list. Besides, he chaired the election program committee.[5] He was not elected, as his party received three seats and his 408 preference votes were not enough to meet the threshold.[6] Van Baarle was DENK's lijsttrekker in Rotterdam in the 2018 municipal elections.[7] His party won four seats in the municipal council, while lijstduwer Tunahan Kuzu received almost twice as many votes as Van Baarle.[8][9] He also remained on as a policy officer.[10] In the council, where he served as caucus leader, Van Baarle successfully proposed a ban on disturbances by the street use of laughing gas together with Livable Rotterdam.[11] He was nominated for Best Politician of Rotterdam by a cooperation of a number of Rotterdam press organizations in both 2018 and 2019.[12] Van Baarle supported DENK's parliamentary leader Farid Azarkan when he was being expelled from the party by its board in May 2020, and he called on the board to resign.[13]

He was DENK's third candidate in the 2021 general election and also served as the party's campaign manager.[14] He was installed as member of the House of Representatives on 31 March after he was elected with 2,449 preference votes.[15] Van Baarle did not leave the municipal council, but he did step down as caucus leader the following month.[16] He was one of the party's lijstduwers in Rotterdam in the March 2022 municipal elections, leading to the end of this council membership after 29 March.[17][18] In the House, Van Baarle worked on combatting discrimination in the selection of interns. A motion of his was passed to utilize mystery inspectors to test companies' adherence to the law.[19] In July 2023 – shortly after the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet had triggered a November 2023 general election – Farid Azarkan announced that he would leave politics. Van Baarle succeeded him as parliamentary leader on 3 August, and he announced his intention to become DENK's lead candidate in a video featuring Azarkan. Van Baarle said that it was important for a new generation to take responsibility and that he would double down on the party's commitment to fight racism, exclusion, and xenophobia.[20][21][22] DENK's board announced it had officially chosen Van Baarle as its lead candidate on 10 September.[23]

Controversy

On 24 October 2023 van Baarle caused controversy in the Dutch parliament for speaking out the antisemitic slogan: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.", is a well-known slogan among those who advocate for the Palestinian cause. It is an expression of hope that human rights and freedom may someday be guaranteed for the Palestinians in the land between the Jordan River (river) and the Mediterranean Sea (sea). However, activists in support of the state of Israel argue that this statement implies that the state should be wiped off the map and consider it antisemitic, and therefore, punishable.

The president of the Parliament consequently forbid this slogan, arguing it is a call incite violence.[24] While in 2021 an activist used this quote during a protest for which he was taken to court, but the court ruled it non-punishable and "not an incitement to violence".[25]


House committees

Van Baarle is on the following parliamentary committees in the House of Representatives:[26]

  • Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
  • Committee for Education, Culture and Science
  • Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management
  • Committee for the Interior
  • Committee for Social Affairs and Employment

Personal life

Van Baarle is a resident of Rotterdam and is an agnostic.[27] He is a supporter of football club Feyenoord and a fan of the German band Rammstein, and he plays the guitar.[7][28]

References
  1. "Fractie DENK" [DENK caucus]. Gemeente Rotterdam (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  2. "S.R.T. (Stephan) van Baarle MA". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. Vossen, Koen (7 December 2016). "We zijn geen stemvee" [We are not voting fodder]. De Groene Amsterdammer (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  4. Beek, Monica; Liukku, Antti (31 March 2018). "Het gaat snel met de oogappel van Kuzu" [Things are going fast for Kuzu's precious]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. Kok, Laurens (31 December 2016). "Partij Denk heeft geen brede aanhang" [Party DENK does not have a wide following]. Het Parool (in Dutch). p. 4.
  6. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives election 2017 (signed copy)] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 150 and 151. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  7. Hoogstad, Mark (28 January 2018). "Denk kiest voor Van Baarle als lijsttrekker in Rotterdam" [DENK chooses Van Baarle as its lijsttrekker in Rotterdam]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  8. "PVV verliest zetel in Rotterdam, Denk krijgt er vier" [PVV loses seat in Rotterdam, DENK receives four]. NOS (in Dutch). 23 March 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  9. "DENK-fractievoorzitter Tunahun Kuzu wordt raadslid in Rotterdam" [DENK parliamentary leader Tunahan Kuzu will become a councilor in Rotterdam]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 23 March 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  10. Liukku, Antti (31 March 2020). "Fractievoorzitter Van Baarle - 'de oogappel van Kuzu' - is kortaf over crisis bij Denk" [Caucus leader Van Baarle – 'Kuzu's precious' – is curtly about DENK's crisis]. PZC (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  11. De Koning, Adrianne (13 December 2019). "Verbod op lachgas op straat in Rotterdam" [Ban on street use of laughing gas in Rotterdam]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  12. König, Eppo (14 November 2019). "Genomineerden 'Beste Politicus van Rotterdam' zijn bekend" [Nominees for Best Politician of Rotterdam are known]. nrc.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  13. Liukku, Antti (6 May 2020). "Denk Rotterdam spreekt zich uit over partijconflict: royeren van Azarkan is 'onacceptabel'" [DENK Rotterdam gives its opinion about conflict within the party: Azarkan's expulsion is 'unacceptable']. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  14. "Veel lokale politici DENK op lijst voor Tweede Kamer" [Many local DENK politicians on general election list]. Trouw (in Dutch). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  15. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 273. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  16. Groenendijk, Peter (15 April 2021). "Dit is de nieuwe Rotterdamse voorman van Denk: 'Wij vertolken het geluid van de ongehoorden'" [This is DENK's new leader in Rotterdam: 'We express the voice of the unheard']. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  17. "Proces-verbaal van de verkiezingsuitslag van de gemeenteraad" [Report of the election results of the municipal council] (PDF). Gemeente Rotterdam (in Dutch). 18 March 2022. p. 7. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  18. "Nieuwe gemeenteraad geïnstalleerd" [New municipal council installed]. Gemeente Rotterdam (Press release) (in Dutch). 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  19. "Kamer wil mysteryguest inzetten tegen stagediscriminatie" [House wants to use mystery inspectors against internship discrimination]. NOS (in Dutch). 22 November 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  20. Wieringa, Rein (2 August 2023). "Stephan van Baarle (Denk) wordt fractievoorzitter en wil lijsttrekker worden" [Stephan van Baarle (DENK) becomes parliamentary leader and wants to be lead candidate]. nrc.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  21. "Kamerlid Stephan van Baarle wil lijsttrekker worden van DENK" [House member Stephan van Baarle wants to be DENK's lead candidate]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  22. "Tweede Kamer, 105e vergadering Dinsdag 5 september 2023" [House of Representatives, 105th meeting Tuesday 5 September 2023]. House of Representatives (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  23. "Stephan van Baarle nieuwe lijsttrekker van Denk" [Stephan van Baarle new lead candidate of DENK]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). 10 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  24. "'From the river to the sea'-leus is geweldsoproep, vindt Kamermeerderheid". de NOS. 25 October 2023. p. 1. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  25. "Niks mis met slogan 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', oordeelt rechter". The Rights Forum. 26 October 2023. p. 1. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  26. "Stephan van Baarle". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  27. Van Baarle, Stephan (17 February 2018). "Integratie is een kunstmatige term" [Integration is an artificial term]. nrc.nl (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Elsje Jorritsma and Eppo König. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  28. Van Baarle, Stephan (29 January 2018). "Rotterdammers willen niet tegen elkaar uitgespeeld worden" [People from Rotterdam do not want to be pit against each other]. AD (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Monica Beek. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
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