Amidst fiery demonstrations and even calls for his arrest, Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday inaugurated the new Holocaust Memorial Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The official ceremony was held in the city's famous Portuguese Synagogue, in the presence of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, together with the President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, President of the German Federal Council (Bundesrat), Manuela Schwesig, the Mayor of Amsterdam, and Jewish leaders from around the world.
During the ceremony, Palestinian supporters held demonstrations outside the synagogue against President Herzog and the State of Israel.
The "Erev Rav" organization, which describes itself as an "anti-Zionist Jewish organization," published a post on X (formerly Twitter) the night before the inauguration ceremony of the Holocaust Museum, claiming that they had submitted a request to arrest President Herzog because of the war in Gaza.
"We filed a complaint against the 'Israel' president (sic) with the International Court of Justice and the Dutch police for committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Palestinian people. The Netherlands must, according to international law, do everything in its power to prevent genocide, including arrest, interrogation, and indictment of responsible heads of state. The Netherland owes it to its history."
"It played a significant part in the Holocaust and committed genocide against its colonies. Our ancestors’ history teaches us that in times of genocide, we must fight against it. As a Jewish community, we are deeply attached to the mitzvah of 'never again' when genocide occurs. That is why we unequivocally support the Palestinian struggle against genocide and other crimes committed by Israel," the Erev Rav organization stated in the post.
In his speech, Herzog called for the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, saying: "I ask you all to join me in prayer for the victims of the Shoah, and for the victims of hatred, terror, and antisemitism in the present, wherever they may be. Finally, in this shrine of prayer, let us pray for the immediate, safe return of our hostages. And let us pray for peace as in the words of the Jewish liturgy: “May the Lord give strength to his people, may the Lord bless his people with peace.”
The new Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam is housed in a former teacher training college that served as a covert escape route that helped 600 Jewish children escape the clutches of the Nazis. The museum portrays photographs and artifacts from various concentration and extermination camps throughout Europe, documenting the horrors of the Holocaust.
