An apparently transgender pro-Palestine activist was arrested on Saturday after allegedly defacing a war memorial in Amsterdam with spray paint.
Dutch police said that they arrested a “24-year-old man” after footage emerged on social media showing a bearded man in a dress spray-painting the phrase “never again is now” on the National Monument in Dam Square on Saturday amid a protest against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, De Telegraaf reported.
The phrase, which is typically uttered as a warning against a repeat of the Holocaust, was apparently used by the activist to compare the Jewish state’s conflict with Islamist Hamas terrorists and Nazi Germany’s genocide of Jews and other minorities.
The location of the graffiti was also apparently intended to liken the war in the Middle East to the Second World War, with the National Monument serving as a symbol to honour the Dutch who lost their lives during WW2.
The suspect has been released, and it will be up to the Dutch Prosecution Service what, if any, action is taken against them.
A local business owner said of the stunt: “People are furious, so am I. We have sounded the alarm before because Dam Square is succumbing to protests. We fight hard for a clean and safe square. But the fact that even the dead from the war are not respected is unpalatable for me as an Amsterdammer.”
The entrepreneur suggested that the government should step in and ban protests from the city centre, saying that it would be beneficial “not only for the monument, but also for the safety, quality of life and enjoyment of visitors.”
The local municipal government had initially prohibited the protest on Saturday; however, a judge overturned the decision and allowed it to take place.
The organisers of the demonstration, the International Socialists, attempted to distance themselves from the act of vandalism, describing it as “tasteless”. Yet, the far-left group said that they did not believe it fundamentally crossed the line, given that the war memorial could have the graffiti removed.
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