Protest reminds guests of ‘war zone’ at opening of Holocaust museum

Sobibor started in the Vondelpark, King Willem-Alexander said on Sunday in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, “with a sign: ‘Forbidden for Jews’”. During his speech, on the occasion of the opening of the National Holocaust Museum, at least a thousand demonstrators stood further along Waterlooplein, with signs that read, among other things: “Jews against genocide” and “King: 2014 beer with Putin, 2024 toast with Herzog.”

The demonstrators’ cheers and chants could be heard as far away as the synagogue. When the king then arrived at the new Holocaust museum, there were loud boos. After the official opening, eggs and fireworks were thrown at the police. Some demonstrators who climbed police vans were repelled with batons. When the police asked to end the protest, a number of demonstrators first sat on the ground for a while.

The demonstrators – a very mixed group – primarily expressed their disgust at the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the opening of the Holocaust museum. After Hamas killed some 1,200 Israelis in Israel on October 7, Herzog said that “an entire nation was responsible” for that attack. Since then, Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza. South Africa has accused Israel of ‘genocidal intent’ before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), referring, among other things, to Herzog’s statement. At the end of December, the Israeli president wrote on an artillery shell bound for Gaza: ‘I trust you’.

demonstratorCharles Hens The Netherlands should not cooperate in the normalization of what appears to be genocide

The protest against Herzog’s arrival was organized on Sunday by the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands, the Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rav and the International Socialists under the motto: ‘Never again is now’, a reference to the post-war slogan ‘Never again Auschwitz’. Protests were also organized in two other places in the city, by a group of left-wing Israelis in the Netherlands and the radical Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, respectively.

On Saturday, Erev Rav and Another Jewish Voice had asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant against Herzog for “committing genocide.” On Thursday evening, more than two hundred mosques had called on King Willem-Alexander not to receive Herzog. The king had ignored that request because of the “great significance” and “national importance” of the museum.

Also read
‘The blood of every victim is equally red. That’s what this museum is about’

Keffiyehs and yarmulkes

The importance of the Holocaust museum is beyond dispute, according to the demonstrators on Waterlooplein. “That is why I find it so bad that the president of a country that is currently carrying out a mass slaughter is present at the opening,” says Charles Hens, a 53-year-old art teacher, wearing a keffiyeh, the checkered Arab headscarf. around his neck. “The Netherlands should not cooperate in the normalization of what appears to be genocide.”

The Netherlands is once again on the wrong side of history, according to Jessica Gonzalez (42), born in Tenerife, now an entrepreneur in Amsterdam. She would rather do something fun with her small children at the weekend, but she has placed them elsewhere. She is a Catholic by birth and has “nothing to do with Israel and Palestine.” She stands here as a concerned citizen and as a mother. “Children should no longer die of hunger in 2024. The Netherlands should learn from its past.”

Four female psychiatrists took three small children to the protest, “for practical reasons”, but they should get something from it. They dutifully color protest signs. “I am standing here because history repeats itself,” says psychiatrist Camille Bol (36). “Today in particular we must make our voices heard.”

Asher Stein, a 23-year-old American studying in the Netherlands, carries a sign that reads ‘Not in my name’ because “I am a Jew and I do not want my history to be used to justify the murder of Palestinians.” In addition to keffiyehs, many yarmulkes can be seen among the demonstrators.

Some of the same opinions are expressed on the other side of the mobile unit lines. The smartly dressed guests stand in front of the Portuguese Synagogue for the opening of the National Holocaust Museum. There too it can be noted that Herzog’s statements were “wrong” or “incredibly stupid”. And what is happening in Gaza is “terrible.” Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte should take Herzog to task about it, it is also said on this side. And demonstrating is a great right.

guest at openingMachteld Löwensteyn The people the museum is about have nothing to do with Gaza

“But to do that today … I think that’s nonsense,” says a 67-year-old lady who does not want her name in the newspaper. She is invited because her father saved children in the resistance. “What is happening in Israel and Gaza is separate from this and incomparable to the Holocaust,” she says. She finds the protest threatening. “I feel like I am in a war zone here.”

Machteld Löwensteyn (66) also thinks the protest is “misplaced”. It would “overshadow” what it is all about in the first place. “The people the museum is about have nothing to do with Gaza. To want to have Herzog arrested is in this context over the top.”

Also read
Everything is right about the new National Holocaust Museum

‘Tough conversations’

Herzog does not have much to fear in the Netherlands for the time being – apart from protest. The ICC had not yet responded to the request for his arrest on Sunday. And Rutte kept it to a simple reception on Sunday afternoon, out of the spotlight.

Since the start of the war, the Netherlands has said it has made a major effort to persuade the Netanyahu government to moderate the violence used in the Gaza Strip. But while ‘robust discussions’ are being held behind closed doors, the cabinet is not publicly condemning Israel and the government is not calling for a permanent ceasefire.

Menno Visser (46), who was invited to the Portuguese Synagogue on Sunday because he gives guided tours in Sobibor and, as a high school history teacher, helped think about the National Holocaust Museum, believes that Rutte should take a more critical position. “The war must stop. In that region people are used to hitting back, but what Israel is doing is three times over the top – if not a hundred times.”

To share





Email the editor