Amsterdam concert hall cancels Israeli group's shows over protest plans

Two concerts by the Israeli music group Jerusalem Quartet which were scheduled to be held in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam were cancelled. The decision was made "due to announced demonstrations, and the recent developments surrounding protests in Amsterdam," the music hall said on Tuesday.

The Concertgebouw said it wants to "guarantee the safety of our employees, visitors and musicians."

The Jerusalem Quartet was scheduled to perform music by Felix Mendelssohn, Claude Debussy and Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim on Thursday and Saturday. The string quartet includes three violinists and a cellist.

This past February, pro-Palestinian activists disrupted a concert by the group at the Theater Diligentia in The Hague. The demonstrators shouted over the music and waved Palestinian flags. Security guards forced them out of the room.

This also happened a month earlier at a concert put on by the group in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam. In 2010, a performance by the group in London was also disrupted during a BBC live broadcast.

Anti-Israel organizations believe that the quartet is a way for the State of Israel to use culture to polish the country's image, and divert attention away from what is happening in the Palestinian territories.

"It is with total disbelief that the Central Jewish Consultation (CJO) has learned that the Concertgebouw has decided to cancel the concert from the Jerusalem Quartet that was planned in the Concertgebouw for May 16 and 18," the CJO wrote in a letter to the concert venue.

"Your actions have given new meaning to the word 'cancel culture.' You capitulate," the organization said. "We therefore urge that these concerts go ahead."