An exhibition honoring the nearly 300-year-old Amersfoort Synagogue was supposed to be a celebration of Jewish life in Amersfoort, a small city in the central Netherlands. Instead, Dutch Jews say, it could become the latest casualty of anti-Israel cancel culture that has targeted Jews in the Diaspora.The city's mayor in the last week has scrambled to save a planned exhibit on the synagogue after it was canceled, but so far has not been able to guarantee that it will open as planned early next year. On November 4, Paul Baltus, the director of Amersfoort in C, an organization that oversees the Museum Amersfoort and several of the city's other cultural institutions, said he was canceling the upcoming synagogue exhibition due to “pressure,” an apparent reference to possible confrontations by pro-Palestinian activists.Pro-Palestinian protesters have held dozens of demonstrations in the Netherlands since the October 7 Hamas attack. On November 8, tens of thousands of people gathered in Amsterdam to demand that the Dutch government impose stricter sanctions on Israel. Community shocked by cancellation Although the museum started planning the exhibition five years ago, Baltus said in a statement, “Since then, the social climate has changed significantly. The situation in the Middle East is also having an impact on Dutch society.
Museum cancels Amersfoort Synagogue’s tricentennial celebration over Israel tensions
The city’s mayor, in the last week, has scrambled to save a planned exhibit on the synagogue after it was canceled, but has not been able to guarantee that it will open as planned early next year.
In brief
An exhibition honoring the nearly 300-year-old Amersfoort Synagogue was supposed to be a celebration of Jewish life in Amersfoort, a small city in the central Netherlands. On November 4, Paul Baltus, the director of Amersfoort in C, an organization that oversees the Museum Amersfoort and several of the city's other cultural institutions, said he was canceling the upcoming synagogue exhibition due to “pressure,” an apparent reference to possible confrontations by pro-Palestinian activists.Pro-Palestinian protesters have held dozens of demonstrations in the Netherlands since the October 7 Hamas attack.
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