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Amsterdam Museum Returns Matisse Painting to Heirs of Holocaust Victim
People are seen walking at Museumplein near Stedelijk Museum (L) Rijksmuseum (Background), and Van Gogh Museum (R) on Nov. 3, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo: Paulo Amorim/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum said on Tuesday that it will return a Henri Matisse painting from the 1920s to the heirs of its former Jewish owner, who was forced to sell the artwork in the Netherlands during the Holocaust before being deported to a Nazi camp where he eventually died.
The painting “Odalisque” has been in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum, which is owned by the Municipality of Amsterdam, since July 1941. The painting was sold to the museum by the late Albert Stern, a successful textile manufacturer and art collector in Germany who was born in 1861. He led one of Germany’s leading ladies’ clothing manufacturers that had branches in New York, London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. The company’s former headquarters in Berlin is now the building used by the German Federal Ministry of Justice.
Following research into the painting’s provenance, the Dutch Restitutions Committee concluded “that it is sufficiently plausible that the sale of the painting was connected to the measures taken by the occupying forces against Jewish members of the population and arose from a desire for self-preservation,” the Stedelijk Museum said. The committee has advised that the museum return the painting to Stern’s legal successors and the Amsterdam City Council, which owns the painting, will adhere to that advisement.
After Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany in Jan. 1933, Stern and his family faced persecution for being Jewish and were stripped of their possessions and livelihood. “The Nazis had expropriated [Stern’s] business, its building, the family’s home and its possessions together with most of their assets, and the family had gone into exile, where they continued to be subject to physical threat by the Nazis,” said the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which represents the Stern heirs.
The Stern family emigrated to the Netherlands in 1937 but, following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, they faced additional persecution and made several, unsuccessful attempts to escape. The once wealthy family was forced to sell their remaining possessions to try to survive.
“The family’s circumstances deteriorated to such an extent that it was forced to sell its belongings,” the museum said. “Since the Stern family needed the money to flee, the Restitutions Committee ruled that this was an involuntary loss of possession due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime.”
Stern sold the Matisse in one of his last efforts to escape Europe with his family, including his children and grandchildren. However, he was unsuccessful in obtaining visas to other countries, including the United States, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, according to the Commission for Looted Art in Europe. Stern’s family were all arrested and deported to different Nazi concentration camps, where most of them died except his wife and two of his grandchildren. Stern died in the Laufen internment camp in January 1945.
“The return of the Matisse is a moving and overwhelming moment for us all,” Stern’s heirs said in a statement. “Our grandparents loved art and music and theater, it was the center of their lives. In the few years we had our grandmother after the war, she transmitted that love to us, and it has enriched our lives ever since.”
“The Matisse underwent the same journey from Berlin to Amsterdam as our grandparents. But it stopped there in the Stedelijk, with almost no acknowledgement from whence it came for 80 years,” they added. “The family has carried the scars of its unbearable and tragic history alone. Now finally, thanks to the Dutch Restitutions Committee, this is being acknowledged. The decision has provided symbolic justice to our grandfather.”
Rein Wolfs, director of the Stedelijk Museum, said the museum welcomes the Dutch Restitutions Committee’s conclusion about “Odalisque.”
“It is a step forward that, together with the heirs, represented by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, we have been able to jointly submit this case to the Dutch Restitutions Committee,” he added. “This artwork represents a very sad history and is connected to the unspeakable suffering inflicted on this family. The ruling of the Restitutions Committee does justice to this history, and we naturally follow their binding advice.”
Touria Meliani, the alderman of culture at the municipality of Amsterdam, called the suffering that Jews experienced during World War II “unprecedented and irreversible.”
“Jewish citizens have had their property, rights, dignity, and in many cases their lives taken away,” Meliani added. “To the extent that anything can be repaired from the great injustice done to them, we as a society have a moral obligation to act accordingly. The return of works of art, such as the ‘Odalisque’ painting, can mean a lot to the victims and is of great importance for the recognition of the injustice done to them. As a city we have a role and responsibility in this.”
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James Carville Accuses Jewish Donors of Using Antisemitism to Abandon Democrats: ‘Just Want Their F—king Tax Cut’
James Carville speaks on the “Politics War Room” podcast. Photo: Screenshot
James Carville, a prominent political commentator and campaign strategist for the Democratic Party, this week accused “wealthy Jewish” donors of using campus antisemitism as an excuse not to give money to Democrats, claiming what they really want are a “f—king tax cut” from Republicans.
On his “Politics War Room” podcast, Carville told co-host Al Hunt that some wealthy Jewish donors are citing examples of antisemitism on university campuses amid the Gaza war as reasons to stop donating to the Democratic Party.
“I hear this all the time. You’ve got to try and raise money from really wealthy Jewish fundraisers. And they say, look, James, I’m a Democrat, but I can’t be a part of a party because of what happened at Columbia [University in New York City],” Carville said.
Columbia has become a hotbed of pro-Hamas activism since the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
“What the f—k did the Democrats have to do with what happened in Columbia, by the way?” Carville continued. “But you know, because they have some students at Columbia generally made an ass of themselves, well, I can’t do that, but I can be for a party that everybody endorses the Alternative for Deutschland (referring to the far-right AfD party in Germany).”
Carville then argued that these wealthy donors just want tax cuts from Republicans.
“My instinct is, and they tell me that, they look me right in the eye,” he said. “No, you just want your f—ucking tax cut.”
The longtime political strategist stressed that his comments are not aimed at “most Jewish people” but doubled down on his comment regarding tax cuts.
“That doesn’t apply to most people, most Jewish people see right through that, but the ones that don’t see through it, they just don’t really, at the end of the day, they just want their f—king tax cut. And you can see it every day.”
James Carville launches into an unhinged rant, accusing wealthy Jewish donors of not wanting to give him money for the Democrat Party at fundraisers over rampant college campus anti-Semitism. Carville claims Jews will vote for Nazis just to “get their f-cking tax cuts.” pic.twitter.com/gM5EYHWlaQ
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) June 5, 2025
Carville’s comments prompted immediate backlash online, with critics accusing the political commentator of parroting antisemitic narratives regarding Jewish people and money.
Carville, the lead strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, has repeatedly condemned the Democratic Party for alienating working-class Americans by advancing culturally progressive values. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party has generally been much more critical of Israel since Hamas’s invasion, in many cases championing the anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses.
This is not the first time that Carville’s comments have angered many within the Jewish community. In August 2024, Carville he drew outrage after he said that the American supports Israel over Palestinians because they are “whiter.” Roughly half of Israeli Jews are Mizrahi — Jews who can trace their ethnic origins to the Middle East and North Africa.
Some pro-Israel supporters have argued that a rift has grown between the Democratic Party and Israel in the 19 months following the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people and abduction of 251 hostages throughout the southern region of the Jewish state.
Since the conflcit began, Democratic lawmakers have become increasingly critical of Israel’s approach to the Gaza war. Although Democrats have repeatedly reiterated that Israel has a right to “defend itself,” many have raised concerns over the Jewish state’s conduct in the war in Gaza, reportedly exerting private pressure on former US President Joe Biden to adopt a more adversarial stance against Israel and display more public sympathy for the Palestinians. In November, 17 Democratic senators voted to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel, sparking outrage among supporters of the Jewish state.
The post James Carville Accuses Jewish Donors of Using Antisemitism to Abandon Democrats: ‘Just Want Their F—king Tax Cut’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria to Give UN Watchdog Inspectors Access to Suspected Former Nuclear Sites as New Regime Seeks Sanctions Relief
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media, in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2025. Photo: Iranian Atomic Organization/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Syria’s new government has agreed to provide the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — with immediate access to former nuclear sites, signaling a move to restore international trust as it hopes to have international sanctions lifted.
On Wednesday, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told the Associated Press that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has shown a “very positive disposition to talk to us and allow us to carry out the activities we need to.”
After meeting with Sharaa in Damascus, he expressed hope that the inspection process would be completed within the coming months.
The IAEA’s goal is “to bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons,” Grossi said.
He also noted that Syria’s new leadership is “committed to opening up to the world, to international cooperation.”
Last year, the IAEA conducted inspections at several sites of interest in Damascus while former President Bashar al-Assad was still in power.
Under Assad’s rule, the country was believed to have operated a secret nuclear program, which included an undeclared nuclear reactor built by North Korea in Deir el-Zour province, in eastern Syria — a fact that was revealed after Israel destroyed the facility in a 2007 airstrike.
Since the collapse of Assad’s regime in December, the IAEA has been looking to regain access to sites associated with the country’s nuclear program.
In addition to conducting inspections, Grossi said the agency is prepared to provide Syria’s new government with equipment for nuclear medicine and to help rebuild the country’s radiotherapy and oncology infrastructure.
“And the president has expressed to me that he’s interested in exploring, in the future, nuclear energy as well,” Grossi said.
Last month, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria — a major policy shift that aligns with the European Union’s efforts to support the country’s recovery and political transition.
As Sharaa focuses on rebuilding Syria after years of conflict, the lifting of Western sanctions that isolated the country from the global financial system is expected to boost its weakened economy by paving the way for greater humanitarian aid, foreign investment, and international trade.
Earlier this year, Sharaa became Syria’s transitional president after leading the rebel campaign that ousted Assad, whose Iran-backed rule had strained ties with the Arab world during the nearly 14-year Syrian war.
The offensive that led to the fall of the Assad regime was spearheaded by Sharaa’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate.
Since then, Sharaa has repeatedly pledged to unify Syria’s armed forces and restore stability after years of civil war. However, the new government continues to face major hurdles in convincing the international community of its commitment to peace.
Incidents of sectarian violence — including the mass killing of pro-Assad Alawites in March — have deepened fears among minority groups about the rise of Islamist factions and drawn condemnation from global powers currently engaged in discussions on sanctions relief and humanitarian aid.
The post Syria to Give UN Watchdog Inspectors Access to Suspected Former Nuclear Sites as New Regime Seeks Sanctions Relief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Music Festival Showcases Tunnel Installation That Simulates Gaza Bombings
An outside view of the “Unsilence Gaza” installation at the 2025 Primavera Sound music festival. Photo: Screenshot
A reproduction of a tunnel that simulates the sound of bombings in the Gaza Strip is being showcased this year at Barcelona’s annual Primavera Sound music festival, which opened on Wednesday.
The unique installation, titled “Unsilence Gaza,” allows visitors to walk through a dark tunnel-like path where they hear noises of explosions as well as dramatic, ominous music. At the end of the tunnel, there is a wall with a message that says in English, Spanish, and Catalan: “Silence isn’t the opposite of the sound of bombs, it allows them to happen.” The outside of the installation features the message: “When everything blows up, don’t hide in the silence.”
The installation makes no mention of the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization that started the ongoing war with Israel after it orchestrated the deadly, mass terror attack across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
UNSILENCE GAZA #PrimaveraSound2025 Instalación de 15 metros de túnel que simula el ruido de un bombardeo a Gaza en el festival de #primaverasound de #barcelona pic.twitter.com/L7XnpF06u1
— Barcelona.lives (@BarcelonaLives) June 4, 2025
The installation was designed by Palestinian sound engineer Oussama Rima and is located by the main entrance of the annual music festival, held at the Parc del Fòrum. T-shirts and sweatshirts with the words “Unsilence Gaza” are also being sold at the festival and proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Palestinian Medical Relief Society to support emergency medical aid.
The Primavera Sound Foundation said on its website that the installation aims to remind people about the power of sound and how, especially in Gaza, it is associated with pain, fear, “torture and trauma.”
“We have normalized seeing war, but not listening to it,” the foundation said. “We live in a world saturated with violent images. Hypervisibility has anaesthetised us: we see, but we do not react. Sound, on the other hand, can still move us. At Primavera Sound, sound is emotion, connection, pleasure. But sound can also be the opposite: it can become a weapon. With this installation, we want to remind you that in Gaza and other parts of the world, sound is pain. It is fear. It is torture and trauma.”
In its statement, the foundation made no mention of Hamas or Israel. Instead, it talked about “genocide,” increased military spending, “warmongering rhetoric and attempts to criminalize and silence voices that defend peace.” The installation was conceptualized by the non-profit organizations Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra and the International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT), with support from the Primavera Sound Foundation.
More than 150 artists will perform at the Primavera Sound music festival this year including Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Chappell Roan, FKA Twigs, HAIM, Fontaines D.C., IDLES and Magdalena Bay.
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