Spectators at a Chanukah concert in Amsterdam on Sunday will attend under a “high risk level” from anti-Israel protesters who plan to rally around the venue, Israel’s National Center for Combating Antisemitism warned on Saturday.
The warning by the center, which operates under the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, is about plans by anti-Israel and far-left groups to demonstrate outside the Royal Concert Hall, or Concertgebouw.
The Palestinian Community in the Netherlands group and the Global Movement to Gaza said they would protest because of the participation in the concert of Shai Abramson, a cantor who also serves in the Israel Defense Forces. The Concertgebouw had canceled the concert for this reason but rescheduled it last month following legal action and protests.
“The planned protests are assessed as carrying a high risk level,” the National Center for Combating Antisemitism said in an assessment. “Current levels of online engagement indicate an expected turnout of several hundred demonstrators.” The protests will be held with a police permit.
On Saturday, the building in central Amsterdam was briefly evacuated due to a foul odor that caused some visitors to feel nauseated, the RTL broadcaster reported. The cause of the stink was not immediately clear, a Concertgebouw spokesperson told RTL.
