Netherlands: Another Attack on the Memory of Anne Frank

Once again, a memorial to Anne Frank has been defaced in the Netherlands with a pro-Palestinian message. This time in the town of Gouda, where an information board about Anne in a public park named after her was covered with paint depicting the Palestinian flag. The linked article from ZOGouda.nl shows a photo of the board painted over.

What an obscenity!

The Dutch people are very sensitive about the Holocaust and the symbolism of Anne Frank as the most famous Jewish victim of the Holocaust in that country. It is true that some Dutch were sympathetic to the Nazis and collaborated with them in the Holocaust while the country was occupied in WW2. That is also true in virtually every country occupied by the Germans. The Dutch people today, with few exceptions are not anti-Semitic. They have a long and proud history of welcoming and sheltering refugees fleeing persecution, a tradition that has been badly abused in recent years. In short, I would be surprised if the perpetrator(s) turned out to be Dutch.

The below from the conservative Dutch site, Dagelijkse Standaard is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.dagelijksestandaard.nl/binnenland/kansloos-anne-frank-opnieuw-doelwit-van-extremisten-dit-is-puur-antisemitisme-niets-minder

No chance! Anne Frank once again target of extremists: “This is pure anti-Semitism, nothing less!”

Domestic

24 August at 18:00

The pro-Palestinian extremists really pull out all the stops to show their reprehensible anti-Semitism. Vandals thought it was a good idea to smear an information board about Anne Frank in the Anne Frank Public Park in Gouda with the colors of the Palestinian flag. The municipality of Gouda reacted immediately and let it be known that this kind of act is absolutely unacceptable.

A concerned resident of Gouda has filed reports with the municipality and the police. This person, who wishes to remain anonymous, called the act “low and disappointing” in a conversation with ZoGouda.nl, (news) and said that the act surely does nothing good for the community. “The defacing of an information board to commemorate Anne Frank is not only disrespectful but also shows a lack of fundamental decency.”

The political reaction to this incident leaves nothing to the imagination. Maikel Boon (PVV) member of the Second Chamber (Parliament), has expressed his outrage via social media. “It is scandalous that even the Anne Frank Public Park isn’t safe from this cowardly act of Jew-hatred, masked as so-called solidarity. This is pure anti-Semitism, nothing less!”. Boon also wonders how long the Public Prosecutor’s Office will look the other way when it comes to such flagrant anti-Semitic acts.

Memories of Anne Frank, unfortunately, have been the target of such idiotic actions more and more often. What drives people to connect a girl who was murdered with the conflict in the Middle East because of her heritage? When will these figures, who undoubtedly are also often to be found at socially disruptive XR demonstrations, finally realize that their actions achieve precisely the opposite of what they intend?