Thousands of Dutch demonstrate in opposition to the visit of the Israeli president and in support of Gaza

play videoplay video

Video duration 02 minutes 13 seconds 02:13

Today, Sunday, thousands of Dutch people and activists from the Arab and Muslim communities demonstrated in the center of the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, to denounce the participation of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the opening of the “National Holocaust Museum,” at a time when the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip has continued for 156 days.

From the heart of these demonstrations, the head of the Palestinian community in the Netherlands, Ayman Najma, said that large numbers exceeding thousands are participating in this demonstration, and Jews and Jewish institutions constitute a basic pillar of the participants, in addition to members of the Arab and Muslim communities and the Dutch who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian right.

Najma added - in exclusive statements to Al Jazeera Net - that "our Dutch government not only supported and sent weapons to this brutal entity, and sent aid and political support in the corridors of international institutions, but today it warmly receives the war criminal here, in the center of the capital, Amsterdam."

Ayman Najma is a Dutchman of Palestinian origins from the town of Saffuriyya, and was recently elected president of the Palestinian community in the Netherlands.

Impact of demonstrations

Regarding the impact of these demonstrations on Dutch politics, Najma said, “The parties in the Netherlands are looking with interest at this movement, which extends in time and space since the beginning of the aggression on the Gaza Strip. Recently, we have begun to feel a difference in Dutch political discourse, and there is a major change in public opinion among the Dutch.” .

He added, "Today we are talking about a large percentage representing more than 70% of Dutch youth who have begun to care about the truth about what is happening in Palestine after they were absent from this issue, because the influence of the Zionist media lobby in the Netherlands is large and important."

"Holocaust Museum"

The traditional Jewish quarter in the capital, Amsterdam, includes several institutions related to the Jewish presence in the Netherlands, such as the Small Jewish Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, and the Holocaust Memorial Site, in addition to the “National Holocaust Museum.”

The opening of this museum comes about 79 years after World War II, and was scheduled to open last year, at a cost of more than $28 million. The Netherlands is one of the last Western European countries to open such a facility.

The Historical Museum is located within the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam and includes manuscripts and pictures about Jewish history (Google Maps)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander is scheduled to open the museum, in the presence of several international officials, including the Israeli president, who represents the “Dutch Holocaust survivors” who immigrated to Israel after the World War. He also represents the Israeli institutions that made documents, photographs and video materials available to the museum.

Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, and massive destruction to infrastructure and the humanitarian situation, which led to Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide.”

The Israeli president himself has also been subjected to international criticism in recent months, after he said - shortly after the Israeli aggression on Gaza - that "he does not distinguish between civilians in Gaza and Hamas fighters."

Source: Al Jazeera + websites