Amsterdam Agencies

Amsterdam

Updated Sunday, March 10, 2024-16:28

The Netherlands inaugurated its

National Holocaust Museum

this Sunday in a ceremony presided over by

King Willem-Alexander

and

Israeli President Isaac Herzog

, whose presence has sparked protests due to Israel's offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The ceremony took place

at the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam

, with the attendance of numerous national and international authorities, including the mayor of the capital, Femke Halsema;

the president of the German Federal Council, Manuela Schwesig;

and the Austrian president, Alexander van der Bellen.

Herzog took advantage of his speech to demand the release of the hostages held by the Islamist group Hamas, although with pro-Palestinian protests in Amsterdam against their presence in the country.

Herzog has called for the release of the hostages held in Gaza since October 7 and has assured that the new National Holocaust Museum is a place that remembers "the horrors that arise from hatred, anti-Semitism and racism", warning that Anti-Semitism "is currently growing around the world."

"Let us pray in this place of worship for the return of our hostages, safe and sound, and for peace," stressed the Israeli president, in his speech at the Amsterdam synagogue, in which he also noted that "many people" They watched in silence as Jews were deported in the Netherlands, although he celebrated that "there were also those who rose up" against the Nazis.

Schwesig considered it important to continue shouting "never again" and defined Herzog's presence as "a special gesture", despite the fact that organizations such as The Rights Forum, a Dutch knowledge center on Israel and Palestine, have warned that "his reception by of the king is a slap in the face to the Palestinians who have to watch helplessly as Israel kills their loved ones and destroys their land.

"The Germans were responsible for the deportation of people from here. We acknowledge our guilt (...) Today, it is our responsibility to keep the memory alive and do everything possible to ensure that this never happens again," said Schwesig.

Protests in various parts of the city

During the opening ceremony of the museum, shouts could be heard on several occasions

from outside

of the protesters who gathered in front of the synagogue against the presence of the Israeli president at the opening of the museum.

In addition to whistling and shouting

slogans for the liberation of Palestine

and the end of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, they also played instruments that could be heard inside the place of worship.

There were also protests elsewhere in Amsterdam against King Willem-Alexander's reception of Herzog.

Later, the Israeli president meets with acting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss political and bilateral issues.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered amid heightened security measures at Waterloo Square in central Amsterdam, near the museum and synagogue, waving Palestinian flags, shouting slogans against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and demanding a ceasefire. immediately in Gaza.

Rally leaders emphasized that they were protesting against Herzog's presence, not against the museum and what it commemorates.

"For us Jews, these museums are part of our history, of our past," said Joana Cavaco, an anti-war activist with the Jewish collective Erev Rav, addressing the crowd before the ceremony.

And she added: "How is it possible that such a sacred space is used to normalize genocide today?"

More than 200 mosques this week asked the king not to attend the reception, noting the symbolic value of Herzog's presence in the Netherlands given the Israeli war in Gaza.

The museum, which will open this Monday to the public, is located in

Plantage

, the neighborhood that once welcomed Jews

awaiting deportation from Amsterdam

, and which will now house a center that will tell, eight decades after that genocide, the story of the persecution of the Jews.

It is estimated that

some 102,000 Dutch Jews were murdered by the Nazis

in World War II (1939-1945).

Only 25% of Jews in the Netherlands survived the Holocaust.