05:42
Record number of people at children’s commemoration in Madurodam
The National Children’s Remembrance Day in Madurodam in The Hague has a record number of participants on Saturday. According to the organization, 7,000 people have registered to follow the commemoration. Among them are 5,000 children. Last year there were 6000 people.
According to the organization, the ninth edition of the event “lets children commemorate and reflect on freedom in their own way.” The entire program has therefore been put together for and by children.
Director Dorien Korsten of the National Children’s Remembrance Foundation believes that the greater interest among children is partly due to the increasingly younger age at which children are exposed to social media. “On their phones they also see images of contemporary wars, for example in Ukraine and Gaza. Images just as terrible as wars in recent decades, but now in their reality,” she says.
The commemoration is presented by 12-year-old Luna. She took part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2022. During the event, children tell their personal stories about the consequences of war. For example, 13-year-old Freek tells the family story of his great-grandmother Tillie, who had to go into hiding with her parents and sisters in December 1942. Nazar, 11, from Ukraine talks about his experiences with war. There is also a lot of music during the commemoration.
11-year-old Johan blows the so-called tattoo shortly before 8 p.m. This is followed by two minutes of silence, followed by a silent procession and a wreath laying ceremony.
The commemoration can be followed live via Omroep West and nationalekinderherdenking.nl, among others.
7:45 PM, Yesterday
Two minutes of silence on the Westermarkt: ‘We are here because freedom of expression is being restricted on Dam Square’
Dozens of people stood on the Westermarkt on Friday evening for an ‘alternative’ commemoration for victims in Gaza and of the Holocaust. There are flowers and cuddly toys on a stage and candles are burning.
In speeches, attention is repeatedly drawn to the victims in Gaza. A mother and daughter wear yarmulkes with a watermelon drawn in the colors of the Palestinian flag. “We think of both the Holocaust and the victims of Gaza. We are here because freedom of expression will be restricted on Dam Square on May 4. Gaza is taboo there,” say Delilah and her daughter Sara.
A woman with a bunch of cow parsley in her hand, who does not want to give her name, finds it “sick” that Ukraine was mentioned during previous commemorations of the dead, but that now, this year, the mayor does not want to say anything about Gaza. “That’s why I’m here, to remember the Palestinians,” she says.
Many participants wear a Palestinian scarf. There are also some Palestinian flags and signs with texts such as: ‘Jesus against genocide’ and ‘Jews against genocide.’
The attendees sing together between the speeches that the violence in Gaza must stop. “Never again Auschwitz is for everyone, including the Palestinians in Gaza,” says one of the speakers.
11:47, Yesterday
Do not commemorate on the emergency lane but in the parking lot, RWS advises
Anyone who is traveling on Saturday evening and wants to participate in the Remembrance Day celebration at 8 p.m. must find a parking space in time. Rijkswaterstaat advises road users not to stop on the hard shoulder. This can lead to dangerous situations.
Stopping on the hard shoulder to participate in the 2 minutes of silence is very unsafe, the traffic department emphasizes. Driving off and merging onto the highway from the emergency lane is especially dangerous because other traffic is driving at full speed. In addition, the emergency lane must remain available for emergencies and emergency services.
On Friday and Saturday, the electronic signs above and along the highway will display the text Safe Remembrance? Look for a P, not on the emergency lane!. Rijkswaterstaat does this at the request of the National Committee 4 and 5 May.
11:41, Yesterday
Mosques ask Halsema to name Gaza in speech on May 4
A partnership of regional mosque associations and Islamic organizations, united in the K7, have made an appeal to Mayor Femke Halsema to mention the violence in Gaza in her speech on Dam Square on May 4.
“It is now that a war is being waged against the Palestinian people,” K7 said in a statement. ‘It is now that many thousands of children are dying of hunger and it is now that the leaders responsible are getting away with their crimes. We therefore ask the mayor of Amsterdam to make the link between then and now.’
According to the partnership of mosques, there is a double standard. For example, conflicts and abuses in the world are often mentioned during speeches on May 4, and Halsema did devote words to the war in Ukraine in her speech in 2022.
The mayor previously announced that she would not mention the war in Israel and Gaza in her speech on Dam Square. “This is our National Remembrance, this is the moment when we reflect on the dead in our own wars,” Halsema said in Nieuwsuur on Tuesday. “I know that the world is on fire and I know that a lot of people are in a lot of pain about that. But it is also very important that there is one moment in the year when you think about yourself.”
She also said that as mayor she has a unifying role and that she will not appoint Gaza, because “the environment in which you do that is so politicized, so restless and so emotional that I will also ensure that I do not participate in that.” have’.
Seven regional umbrella Islamic organizations are affiliated with K7: Sior Haaglanden, SMUO, Spior, FIO, SMBZ, SML and MGA.
11:15, Yesterday
Local committees in Amsterdam were also concerned
In addition to the National Commemoration on Dam Square, there are about fifty other commemorations in Amsterdam on May 4. There are also concerns about tensions in the city and possible disturbances. “I find it exciting every year, but this year I will be happy if I lie in my bed after this commemoration and have not had to intervene,” says Martje Postma of the Committee 4 and 5 May in Osdorp.
Read the full story: ‘It’s different from other years. Many Jewish people are tense
11:12, Yesterday
This is what happened so far
Mayor Femke Halsema is concerned that the National Commemoration on Dam Square will be ‘hijacked by all the emotions and sentiments’ surrounding the current conflict in Israel and Gaza.
“Hacked does not have to mean that thousands of people will protest. Such a commemoration is fragile and small. You only need one or two people who decide to disrupt that moment, while that national commemoration should be very unifying.”
Due to the risk of spontaneous protests and disruptions, extra security measures are in place this year at Remembrance Day on Dam Square. For example, a maximum of ten thousand people are allowed on the square and everyone must reserve a place.
All attendees will be searched beforehand and signs, flags or amplifiers are not permitted.
HWearing clothing to convey a message is not prohibited. People can be refused if they are clearly looking for disruption that could lead to disorder, such as a group of demonstrators with flags or shirts.
10:58, Yesterday
Welcome
Welcome to this live blog. Here we follow all developments surrounding the National Remembrance Day 2024 in Amsterdam.
