Femke Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam, has banned a large-scale rally against antisemitism set for Thursday evening at Dam Square.
As a result, the organizers, including Christians for Israel (CVI), are considering legal action, the Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported.
A spokeswoman for the mayor said the decision was made for safety reasons.
“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 spokeswoman said. “The police do not have sufficient abilities at that location to guarantee the safety of participants in the demonstration and for the shopping public.”
Halsema told representatives of CVI and Jewish organizations, such as the Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI), that she wanted to move the protest away from the city’s central square. “It is not about banning but about moving. This still has to be announced formally,” the spokeswoman for Halsema said.
Alternative locations mentioned include the Stoperaplein and the Museumplein. “We have three options,” says Sara van Oordt of CVI. “Initiate summary proceedings, cancel the demonstration altogether or choose a different location.”
CVI stated that it prefers not to move the site of the rally. “Previous demonstrations have always taken place on Dam Square,” Van Oordt said. “That square has a symbolic value, also because of the war memorial there. That is where we want to stand to show that we are against antisemitism. Not somewhere far-off.”
‘As if it can’t be unsafe there’
Naomi Mestrum, director of CIDI, said that the fact that Halsema “is banning a demonstration against antisemitism on Dam Square is really very bitter. We are just being rejected outright.”
The demonstration was supposed to take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Fliers had been prepared and information about it has already been shared. “Safety was never an issue for the mayor. And now we are being put in a different place. As if it can’t be unsafe there,” too, pointed out Mestrum.
The mayor’s office defends its decision, saying too much pressure has been put on Dam Square. “For example, the daily pro-Palestinian demonstration has also been banned from Dam Square since this summer,” said Halsema’s spokeswoman.
On Nov. 10, Amsterdam police arrested several dozen people at an unauthorized anti-Israel protest rally at Dam Square where, on the night of Nov. 7-8—just days before annual memorials of the Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany and Australia on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938—Muslims violently attacked Israeli soccer fans after a match ended.
That incident resulted in a temporary municipal ban on the anti-Israel demonstrations that regularly take place there.
At a Nov. 8 press conference, Halsema describes that “men on scooters crisscrossed the city looking for Israeli soccer fans. It was a hit-and-run. I can understand very well that this brings back memories of pogroms.”
Just a week later, Halsema—a former leader of the left-wing D66 party—walked back her comments, saying during a panel discussion on the NOS broadcaster that the term in the context of the attacks had become too politically loaded and a propaganda tool.
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized Halsema’s about-face. He called it “utterly unacceptable,” saying that “the failure that occurred on that night must not be compounded by a further grave failure: a cover-up.”
Her remarks are part of a broader narrative change in the Netherlands about the antisemitic attacks, which initially prompted harsh-worded condemnations from across the political spectrum. Less than a month later, the rhetoric has shifted as left-wing politicians and opinion-makers have downplayed, excused or denied the assault on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans returning from their team’s match against the local Ajax club.
