Anne Frank statue in Amsterdam defaced with ‘Gaza’ graffiti, mayor calls for public’s assistance

The statue of Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank was vandalized with red paint reading ‘Gaza’ on Tuesday, Dutch politicians said.

Amsterdam councilor Stijn Nijssen said on X – formerly Twitter – that it was shameful to draw attention to the Palestinian cause by defacing the Holocaust memorial in the Rivierenbuurt neighborhood park.

Het Anne Frank beeld op Merwedeplein in de Rivierenbuurt is beklad met de tekst ‘Gaza’ door een vandaal. Werkelijk beschamend dat iemand aandacht denkt te vragen voor de Palestijnse zaak door een afbeelding van Anne Frank, internationaal symbool van de Holocaust, te besmeren. pic.twitter.com/LYiwlSdoUR

— Stijn Nijssen (@StijnNijssen) July 9, 2024

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called on potential witnesses to report the incident to the police and said there was no excuse for such an action.

Condemning the vandalism

“This young girl, who was so brutally murdered by the Nazis at the age of 15, reminds us and our city every day of humanity and gentleness in the most difficult circumstances.

“How can you get it in your heart to make her memory so violent? Whoever it was, shame on you!” Halsema said on Instagram. “No Palestinian has been helped by smearing her precious statue.”

Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) sarcastically remarked on social media that the statue’s vandalism was another example of “anti-Zionism.”

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