A Dutch far-left party is calling for the cancellation of the main Holocaust commemoration ceremony held the Netherlands, saying it is "inherently racist."
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The BIJ1 party, which defines itself as "anti-racist and decolonialist," made the call in a draft of its program for the municipal elections of March 2022 in Amsterdam, the Jonet.nl news site reported last week.
During the official May 4 commemoration in Amsterdam for the victims of the Holocaust and the Dutch victims of the war, "the Indonesian, Surinamese, Korean, Iraqi victims of the Dutch [or of the violence supported by the Netherlands] are not commemorated," the draft text states.
As long as this is the case, "Amsterdam should not serve as a platform" for the event, the party argued.
The appeal of the BIJ1 party, which, in the general elections last March, won one of 150 seats in parliament, sparked protest from Jewish associations. Ronny Naftaniel, vice president of the Central Jewish Board of the Netherlands, declared that the call was "astonishing."
Jazie Veldhuyzen, a member of the BIJ1 party running for a seat on the city council, has since said the party has changed its position. He is not really looking to have the event suppressed, but to "make it more inclusive," he told broadcaster RTVNH.
BIJ1, led by Sylvana Simons, is one of two parties represented on Amsterdam's city council in 2018 that refused to sign a joint declaration on the fight against antisemitism.
The party is also campaigning for a boycott of Israel, citing its commitment to Palestinian rights.
i24NEWS contributed to this report
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