Three DJs canceled their performances at Amsterdam's De Lofft club in recent days after discovering the venue hosted parties commemorating those killed at the Nova Festival massacre. According to Dutch newspaper Telegraaf, the club owner said the cancellations occurred because the events were labeled as "Jewish."
The cancellations happened during the ADE music festival, one of the world's largest electronic music events, after a video from a "We Will Dance Again" party held at the venue earlier this year surfaced online. Following the controversy, club management announced that, for now, no more events "that could be interpreted as political" will be hosted at the venue.
The club owner said financial losses from the cancellations total approximately 100,000 euros ($106,000), adding that partygoers are the main victims. The owner said the published video "was edited in a biased manner and damaged the venue's reputation."
Event organizers for "We Will Dance Again" criticized the decision, calling it "surrender to threats." The organizers said, "A small group of people uses pressure and threats to dictate what's permitted and what's forbidden, and this is very disturbing." The organizers added that this represents a chilling recreation of patterns of Jewish exclusion from public spaces during dark periods in history. "First, they banned sitting on a bench, then they didn't allow entry to schools. These are things that happened to our parents and grandparents, and now we're seeing similar things happen again," the organizers said.
Belgian parliament member Sam van Rooy also addressed the incidents and warned, "If the cowardly policies continue, Amsterdam will eventually become Judenrein" – cleansed of Jews.
