“We are learning lessons from the fiasco at the opening of the Holocaust museum,” the VVD writes in the election manifesto for the municipal elections of March 18. That ceremony was marred last year by a pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration near the entrance.
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Also a year after the Hamas attacks, a counter-demonstration got out of hand. Visitors to a show of support for Israel were attacked on their way to Dam Square. Although, according to Halsema, such a counter-demonstration must legally be within sight and hearing distance, the VVD wants to get rid of this.
‘As expected from previous mayors’
The party wants more distance between demonstrations. “For example, one on Dam Square and the other on Museumplein, as we were used to under previous mayors.” The VVD wants to ban facial coverings during protests, just like flags of terrorist organizations or ‘symbols that resemble them’.
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The Liberals want Amsterdam to take preventive action when blocking roads and buildings. Anyone who does so should be given an area ban. The party of party leader Daan Wijnants also wants universities to take tougher action against ‘troublemakers’ and for perpetrators to pay the costs of vandalism.
Free city
The VVD also wants to prevent activists from determining who can and cannot perform on Amsterdam stages. Since the war in Gaza, there has been a lot of pressure on cultural institutions to ban Israeli artists. Like, for example, comedian Yohay Sponder.
That goes against freedom of expression, according to the VVD. “Amsterdam will again become the free city it used to be,” the party writes. “An institution that gives in to pressure from activists risks losing its funding.”
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The party wants to make major cuts in the civil service. The Stopera offices could do this with 24 percent less manpower. Enforcement officers and cleaners are spared, the VVD wants to invest in safety and a clean city.
Abolish leasehold
Other major changes are the abolition of leasehold, the abandonment of a fixed percentage of social rent for new construction and an end to ‘municipal foreign policy’ and traffic measures such as the cut in the Weesperstraat.