Organizers of canceled Kristallnacht commemoration angry with police

The organizers of the canceled Kristallnacht commemoration at the Jewish Resistance Monument in Amsterdam are angry about the actions of the police and the municipality in recent days. Yuval Gal of the Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rav said at a press conference that the police allowed the football fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv to do their “thing” in the city this week, but was afraid that anti-fascist demonstrators might destroy the Resistance Monument on Saturday.

Erev Rav had organized the annual commemoration at the monument together with the Platform Stop Racism & Fascism, but canceled it for security reasons. The organizations were afraid that there would still be supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the city and felt unsafe. Maccabi supporters were assaulted in Amsterdam this week after a match against Ajax. In the city center of Amsterdam, pro-Palestinian activists had come to the supporters. It is not yet known who exactly committed the violence.

According to Gal, however, the aggression of the Maccabi fans is not being taken seriously by the police and the city council. According to him, the fans caused destruction and shouted discriminatory things about Palestinians. According to him, the police did not take action against them.

When Erev Rav and the platform expressed their concerns about their own safety during the Kristallnacht commemoration, they were told by the police that they were actually concerned about the possible presence of pro-Palestinian activists and anti-fascists at the commemoration. "Of course there would be anti-fascists. We are anti-fascists. And we expect the police to be anti-fascist as well."

The organizations had invited the press to tell their story at the Resistance Monument on Saturday evening. About twenty sympathizers were present, including municipal councilor Jazie Veldhuyzen of De Vonk, formerly BIJ1. Several people gave a statement. There was also a brief moment of silence for Kristallnacht. The national commemoration of Kristallnacht was already held on Thursday in the Portuguese Synagogue.