Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema is putting an end to the large-scale demonstration against antisemitism on Dam Square that was scheduled for Thursday evening, De Telegraaf reported Tuesday night. The organizers, including the initiators, Christians for Israel (CVI), considered taking legal action, but have agreed to a different location under protest, calling the ban “A slap in the face to the Jewish community.”
Mayor Halsema said on Tuesday during a conversation with delegations from CVI, the Jewish organizations (CIDI), and the Central Jewish Consultation (CJO), that she wanted to move the meeting.
“It is not about banning, but about moving. That still has to be formally recorded,” a spokeswoman for Halsema said.
The reason for rejecting the Dam Sq. rally has to do with safety, according to Halsema’s spokeswoman. “This Thursday is one of the busiest shopping evenings of the year. There is a good chance that there will be spontaneous dissenting voices. The police do not have sufficient facilities at that location to guarantee the safety of participants in the demonstration and for the shopping public.”
However, as the tweet below clearly shows, the pro-Hamas protesters had no trouble marching in the Dam only this past Sunday:
Hundreds gather in Amsterdam’s Dam Square as part of ongoing weekly demonstrations across Netherlands in solidarity with Palestine pic.twitter.com/kfN24s2gBQ
— Türkiye Today (@turkiyetodaycom) November 23, 2024
After the meeting, the CVI and CIDI announced that they would consider the outcome of the conversation with Halsema. “We have three options,” said Sara van Oordt of CVI. “Initiate summary proceedings, cancel the demonstration altogether, or choose a different location.”
On Tuesday evening, the CVI announced in a statement that it had chosen a different location. The demonstration was moved to Stoperaplein, opposite the city hall in Amsterdam.
“We find it extremely important to continue the demonstration, even if it is at a different location,” CVI director Frank van Oordt explained the decision to agree to a different location “We call on everyone to come and thus send a strong signal to society that we as Dutch people stand with our Jews.”
Nevertheless, CVI is deeply disappointed with the Mayoral decision. “The cancellation is a slap in the face of the Jewish community. We can no longer stand together at the National Monument on Dam Square against hatred and intimidation and have to move to another location,” Van Oordt announced.
“It is deeply sad that in 2024 the safety of peaceful demonstrators cannot be guaranteed on Dam Square in Amsterdam. This is while pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue at the place where the horrible murder of Jews during World War II is commemorated every year. The application for the demonstration was submitted more than a week ago and it was quickly approved,” Van Oordt said.
The Christians for Israel Center in Nijkerk, Netherlands, was the target of an attack on Monday morning, raising tensions ahead of an upcoming pro-Israel rally in Amsterdam (Attack on Christians for Israel Center in The Netherlands Highlights Rising Tensions).
Director Naomi Mestrum of CIDI says she is “really [expletive] off,” arguing that the mayor’s “banning a demonstration against antisemitism in Dam Square is really very bitter. We are just being rejected outright.”
“Safety was never an issue for the mayor,” she added. “And now we are being put in a different place. As if it can’t be unsafe there.”
“It is painful that it seems necessary,” Daan Wijnants, party leader of the Amsterdam VVD, responded to De Telegraaf. “What remains very annoying is that in Amsterdam you can safely walk down the street with a Palestinian flag, but not with an Israeli flag. And that also seems to be the reason for the decision.”
