(JTA) — Protesters opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza demonstrated outside a ceremony to mark the opening of the Netherlands’ first Holocaust museum on Sunday, citing the presence of the Israeli president.
More than 1,000 people joined in the protest over the ceremony, which took place in Amsterdam’s historic Portuguese Synagogue. The protesters came from the Dutch Palestinian community, Socialists International and Erev Rav, a local Jewish anti-Zionist group.
All had been activated after news broke last week that Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, would attend the opening ceremony of the National Holocaust Museum, two decades in the making.
An alliance of more than 200 Dutch mosques petitioned King Willem-Alexander not to attend as planned, and the Rights Forum, a Dutch Palestinian rights group, called Herzog’s attendance and meeting with the king a “slap in the face for Palestinians who are watching helplessly as Israel murders their loved ones and destroys their country.”
Dutch King Willem-Alexander speaks during an opening ceremony for the National Holocaust Museum of the Netherlands, at the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, as Israeli President Isaac Herzog looks on, March 10, 2024. (Patrick Van Emst/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Willem-Alexander did attend the ceremony on Sunday. Neither he nor Herzog directly addressed the protests, which have for months accompanied prominent Israelis in their appearances around the world.
Both Herzog and the anti-Zionist protesters invoked the phrase “Never again is now,” a refrain widely used in connection to the Holocaust. Herzog was referring to a global surge in antisemitism since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, while protesters used the phrase to imply that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is akin to the Holocaust.
Activists with the human rights group Amnesty International installed “detour” signs around the museum that directed Herzog to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which is considering a genocide charge brought by South Africa against Israel.
The charge names Herzog, citing his remarks soon after the Oct. 7 attack in which he said “an entire nation” was responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks and that Israel would fight “until we break their backbone.” Herzog has said that his words were misrepresented and taken out of context.
Activists with Amnesty International hold traffic boards showing the way to the International Criminal Court as a protest against the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, in Amsterdam, March 10, 2024. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
“For us Jews, these museums are part of our history, of our past,” Joana Cavaco, an Erev Rav activist, said during a rally before the ceremony. “How is it possible that such a sacred space is being used to normalize genocide today?”
The Jewish Cultural Quarter, which initiated and operates the new museum, said in a statement that it was “bitter” to open the National Holocaust Museum during the war. It said that it supports “a just and secure resolution for all those directly involved” in the Israel-Hamas war, including Israel’s right to exist and Palestinians’ right to autonomy.
The organization said Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, represented the home country of Dutch Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Israel, as well as Israeli counterpart institutions that provided documents, photos and footage to the museum.
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