Cultural sector wants safety protocol after disruption of Lenny Kuhr concert

NOS News•today, 2:41 PM

The cultural sector says it is seeing an increase in incidents due to polarization. For this reason, the sector wants to draw up a safety protocol in collaboration with the State Secretary for Culture, Fleur Gräper. The Association of Theater and Concert Hall Managements, the Dutch Association for Performing Arts and the Association of Dutch Popping Stages and Festivals wrote this in a statement.

The immediate reason is the disruption of Lenny Kuhr’s concert last weekend. Pro-Palestinian activists then disrupted the singer’s performance. “He called me a terrorist and immediately accused me of genocide,” Kuhr, who is Jewish, said after the disruption.

The action has been strongly condemned, including by National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism Eddo Verdoner, who determined that there is anti-Semitism. “She is being attacked and called a terrorist, a Zionist, apparently just because she is Jewish and has family in Israel.”

In the statement, the sector states that “everyone, from creators to employees and audiences, must be safe within our homes and our stages”. This week, thirteen of the fifteen parties in the House of Representatives also released a joint statement against Jew-hatred.

According to the cultural organizations, a safety protocol can ensure that the “liberal arts and free speech” can continue to exist. “If venues see reason to do so, they can rely on preventive safety measures from the government,” the statement says.

Pro-Palestinian activists distributed images of the protest at Lenny Kuhr’s concert

Pro-Palestinian activists disrupt Lenny Kuhr’s performance