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.

The European Jewish Congress said on Wednesday that it hoped the perpetrators were swiftly brought to justice for the act which was "not activism, but antisemitism."

"Such acts disrespect her memory and the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust," said EJC.

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

In April a CIDI report indicated that antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands increased by 245% in 2023 when compared to the previous year. In October, there was an over 800% increase in reported incidents compared to the average figure for October for the last three years. The reported 379 recorded incidents were only 25% of the incidents reported to CIDI, which didn't include the others because motive couldn't be proven, did not fully meet the definition of antisemitism, or only entailed criticism of Israel.