NOS News•today, 5:00 PM
Never before have so many measures been taken to prevent the National Commemoration on Dam Square from being disrupted tonight. For example, fewer people are welcome than usual and there is a ban on demonstrations.
With all the emotions surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas, there are fears of disturbances. It is not the first time that tensions in society reflect on the commemoration of the dead, which has been organized since 1946.
For example, in the 1960s young people criticized the commemoration of the Vietnam War; they felt that the Americans were being praised too much. A smoke bomb was thrown during the commemoration.
Furthermore, theologian Rikko Voorberg wanted to place three thousand crosses during the commemoration in 2017, to commemorate refugees. After much commotion he abandoned the action.
In 2018, activists wanted to draw attention to the Indonesian victims of the War of Independence in the former Dutch East Indies by sounding an air raid siren. That was banned by the judge. Since 2020, the Indonesian victims also have a place in the commemoration.
This year there is criticism from various sides. For example, there are action groups that consider the presence of Chamber President Martin Bosma (PVV) inappropriate. The Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) finds his presence uncomfortable because “the PVV is a party that discriminates against minority groups in advance,” the CIDI told de Volkskrant.
Some representatives of the Indian community and historians argue that there should be an end to commemorating the soldiers who died during the colonial war in Indonesia. According to them, recent research has shown that the Dutch army structurally used extreme violence against Indonesians. A historian asks in Trouw whether the Netherlands wants to “legitimize the bloody colonial war” by commemorating these soldiers.
A tour of the newspaper among the Indian community shows that not everyone finds it a problem to commemorate the Indian soldiers, partly because the vast majority of the soldiers were conscripted and could face prison time if they did not go. The often young boys also did not know what to expect in the Dutch East Indies.
Furthermore, this year there is a lot going on around the war between Hamas and Israel, and whether or not that war should be included in the commemoration. For example, more than two hundred mosques have called on Amsterdam Mayor Halsema to mention the violence in Gaza in her speech tonight.
Halsema previously said that she will not discuss the war in her speech on Dam Square because of her unifying role as mayor.
Call for protest
It underlines the many sensitivities surrounding Remembrance Day, which are expressed in many different ways. A group of pro-Palestine activists said otherwise News hour for example, that they do not intend to protest during the commemoration tonight. “We have called on our people not to come to Dam Square on May 4 and 5. We would like to make our voice heard, but we think it will be used against us.”
