Spanish
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam, located in the central Dam Square, woke up this Tuesday covered in red paint and a phrase against Israel ("Fuck Israel") painted on its facade, in an action claimed by the activist group against the occupation of Palestine "Palestine Action NL" and which has been described by Mayor Femke Halsema as "scandalous and unacceptable".
The police received the report about this action this morning and have opened an investigation, although no arrests have been made at this time. The images show paint thrown on the stairs, spread on the walls and thrown towards the main balcony of the building.
Palestine Action NL claimed responsibility on social media, in response, they say, to the mayor's alleged decision to ban a national commemoration for Palestine in Dam Square, while she has authorized an Israeli event in the same place. The group explained that they chose the Royal Palace because it is "a symbol of centuries of Dutch colonialism" and used red paint "to represent the blood that the Dutch State has on its hands".
Halsema described the act, in statements to the local newspaper Het Parool, as "a slap in the face" for those who remember the attack carried out two years ago by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israel, in which 1,200 people died and another 251 were kidnapped. Israel then responded with massive bombings on the Gaza Strip, which have continued uninterrupted except for a brief truce at the beginning of this year.
According to figures from the Gazan Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks have caused more than 67,000 deaths in the Palestinian enclave in the last two years, including more than 19,000 children, and have left about 170,000 injured. Israel has also blocked the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip for months, causing the death by starvation of more than 450 people, including 154 children and babies.
The Amsterdam City Council clarified that there is no general ban on demonstrations in Dam Square against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, but that another gathering was already registered for the same time slot and proposed as an alternative that the call be held elsewhere or at another time.
It's not the first time that public monuments in the Dutch capital have been targeted by similar actions.
In August, the Dam Square National Monument was covered with the phrase “Never again is now,” written in red letters, and in May the Royal Tropical Institute was also defaced with red paint to represent the blood spilled in Gaza.
