Visitors to National Remembrance Day on Dam Square must reserve a place | Domestic

This is reported by the National Committee 4 and 5 May, which has created a special website for reservations. People have been able to make reservations since Tuesday. They can choose a location and time slot for arrival.

You cannot attend the commemoration without a reservation. You must also report to the pre-selected entrance points of Dam Square. These are on Damrak, Rokin and Paleisstraat. The other access points to the square will be cordoned off.

With the online reservation system, the National Committee wants to kill two birds with one stone for 4 and 5 May. The reservation system keeps track of the maximum number of approximately ten thousand visitors.

In addition, the system must ensure that everyone who wants to come can actually come. “Think of people who have to come from far away to be there. Or people who have difficulty walking,” a spokesperson for the National Committee 4 and 5 May told NU.nl.

According to the spokesperson, around a thousand reservations were already made in the first hour after the reservation system went online.

The police will search people at the three entrance points of Dam Square. Officers also check extra for things such as flags, banners and signs. Those are not allowed.

Discussions are currently ongoing about what to do with clothing and texts on T-shirts that could provoke a reaction and lead to unrest, the spokesperson said.

The Amsterdam triangle (consisting of the mayor, chief public prosecutor and police chief) and the National Committee 4 and 5 May have taken the additional measures in close collaboration with the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV). The triangle and the committee announced this earlier.

The NCTV and police believe there is a risk of spontaneous protests or disruptions. But according to them, the chance of an attack is not greater compared to previous years.

The reason for the greater risk of disruptions is “increased social tension and a great willingness to protest among the population,” the triangle reports. According to the triangle, these are “among other things inspired by the war violence between Israel and Hamas and the further tensions in the Middle East.”

Before the National Commemoration on Dam Square, there will be a silent procession in the capital. It starts at the Stopera, where the town hall is also located, and ends at Dam Square.

A spokesperson for the municipality says that this tour is also being closely monitored. The same applies to the silent journeys and commemorative moments in Amsterdam. “Together with the National Committee for May 4 and 5, we as a municipality are in close contact with the organizers of the other commemorations,” the spokesperson said.

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