Pushed forward by the former Justice Secretary Ivo Opstelten and a notoriously anti-immigrant right wing party, the former government of the Netherlands passed a new law prohibiting Cannabis coffee shops in the whole Amsterdam from selling their products to any non-Dutch national. By January 2013, this new bill will have affected the change of turning the Netherlands from one of the world’s most celebrated places of tolerance to an epicenter of intolerance and discrimination towards foreigners.

The UN's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" clearly says: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.” This new law clearly denies visitors to the Netherlands access to the basic rights guaranteed to its citizens. This must be stopped.

As signers of this petition, we all agree that we will not support a country that works against extending Human Rights to others and discriminates against people because of their nationality. We agree that we will not visit the Netherlands or consume Dutch products as long as this law is in place. We will tell a minimum 10 people about this petition and be involved in the effort of finding supporters to join this cause.

We call for the new government of the Netherlands that is elected in Sept. 2012 to revoke the decision of the Kabinet-Rutte and work to make the Netherlands a place that treats all people as equal.