A commemoration of the February strike in Amsterdam Nieuw-West on Sunday will not take place. Hélène de Bruine, one of the members of the neighborhood memorial committee, writes: Saturday on X. The reason is calls to demonstrate against Israeli violence in Gaza around the Amsterdam commemorations.
The commemoration would take place at the monument for Willem Kraan, one of the initiators of the February strike, and was separate from the commemoration at the monument ‘De Dokwerker’ in the center of Amsterdam. A poster calling for a “February intifada” around the commemorations was shared on X by Tofik Dibi, management advisor in Nieuw-West, among others.
“Because of the tensions, people have already indicated that they will no longer come to the commemoration,” says De Bruine NRC. She calls Dibi’s retweet “the last straw”. “We do not feel supported by a tweet from such an important management advisor. The commemoration is all about connection, openness and dialogue, and this must be possible in a safe setting.”
Dibi wrote Friday on X that he sees the poster as a “call to use the resistance in 1941 as inspiration for the resistance now.” For him, it is “not criticism of the committee for ignoring Gaza or something.”
‘Hyjacked’
De Bruine emphasizes that the cancellation is not intended as a statement about the Gaza war. “Let’s talk about this strike. I find it rather tasteless that the Docker is being hijacked like this. We have therefore drawn our conclusion.”
The commemoration in the center of Amsterdam continues on Sunday, to write the organisers. “Political expressions are kept out of this, the committee assumes that the dignity of the commemoration is respected.”