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Pro-Hamas Activists Protest Outside Opening of Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam Attended by Israeli President
Israeli President Isaac Herzog walks near the Portuguese Synagogue on the day of the opening of the National Holocaust Museum, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, attending an opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam on Sunday, called for prayers for peace and the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack and still held by the Islamist militants.
As he arrived at the Portuguese Synagogue to make a speech, Herzog was greeted with booing from pro-Palestinian protesters demanding an immediate end to Israel’s assault in Gaza.
Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others as hostages. Over 130 of the abductees remain hostages in Gaza.
“Hatred and antisemitism are flourishing worldwide, and we must fight it together,” Herzog said in his speech.
At a square nearby, protesters were chanting “Ceasefire now” and “Stop bombing children,” while holding Palestinian flags and signs that said “Jews against genocide” and “The grandchild of a holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust.”
Some set off fireworks and threw eggs at police while a few tried to climb police vans as the protest grew more tense in the afternoon. Local media reported at least a thousand protesters attended.
“(Herzog attending) is a slap in the face of victims both in Gaza and the Jews that starved in World War Two,” protester Huibert Boer said.
Near the new museum, a group of people holding Israeli flags and pictures of hostages was confronted by some of the pro-Palestinian protesters, some shouting “shame on you,” with police officers present to de-escalate tensions.
Human rights group Amnesty International put up detour signs around the museum to direct Herzog to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
A spokesperson for the president declined comment.
Dutch Jewish anti-Zionist organization Erev Rave, which organized the protest with the Dutch Palestinian Community and Socialists International, said that while it honored the memory of Holocaust victims, it could not stand by while the war in Gaza continued.
Faced with international concerns about the heavy humanitarian toll of the war, Israel has been stressing that it did not start it and was doing everything possible to minimize civilian casualties, blaming Hamas for fighting in densely populated areas.
Herzog‘s remarks that not only militants but “an entire nation” was responsible for the Oct. 7 attack and that Israel will fight “until we break their backbone” have been cited by South Africa in its International Court of Justice lawsuit against Israel.
But Herzog has said his comments were misrepresented, and only part of what he said was cited in order to build a case against Israel in the ICJ.
Before he became president, a largely ceremonial role, Herzog used to head Israel’s Labor party, which historically has advocated for making peace with Palestinians.
The museum told media that it had invited Herzog before the Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza.
It said in a statement it recognized that the president’s attendance raised questions but that he represented the homeland of Dutch Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Israel.
Nazi Germany killed six million Jews during World War Two. Modern Israel was founded in 1948 as a safe haven for Jews.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander is set to meet Herzog later on Sunday.
The post Pro-Hamas Activists Protest Outside Opening of Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam Attended by Israeli President first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.