The chilling circle closes: The great-grandsons fell in Gaza and Lebanon - the house named after them will protect Dutch Jews
The Jewish community in Utrecht and the Goldor-van Gelder families are establishing a new Jewish student house, "Beit Omer", against a backdrop of rising antisemitism in the Netherlands. The house will be named after two cousins who fell in the Swords of Iron battles, great-grandsons of the city's rabbi from the Holocaust period. The project aims to provide a safe space for Jewish and Israeli students.
The Jewish community in Utrecht and the Goldor-van Gelder families are leading a crowdfunding campaign to establish "Beit Omer", a new Jewish student house in the city. The initiative was born against a backdrop of alarming antisemitism in the Netherlands and a low point in diplomatic relations between Israel and the Netherlands, reflected in strict checks on Israeli travelers. A government report determined that Jewish students and faculty suffer from deep insecurity, sometimes forced to hide their identity. In Utrecht, a city with about 70,000 students, pro-Palestinian protests have become a regular presence, sometimes with antisemitic slogans. The house will be named after two cousins who fell in the Swords of Iron battles: Reserve Staff Sergeant Omar Moshe Gal Dor, who fell in November 2024 in southern Lebanon, and Staff Sergeant Omer van Gelder, who fell in June 2025 in Gaza. The two are great-grandsons of Rabbi Joseph van Gelder, the chief rabbi of Utrecht during the Holocaust. The building will be erected in the compound of a historic Jewish school and will also serve as a social hub for the Jewish student association "Barvaz", which has about 200 members. Donations are tax-deductible in Israel and the Netherlands.