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| Judenfrei: Amsterdam Royal Concert Hall cancels Hanukkah concert over IDF cantor participation |
| 2025-11-05 |
| [IsraelTimes] Concertgebouw says Shai Abramson is ‘visible representative’ of Israeli army involved in ‘controversial war;’ Jewish organizers seek legal action to proceed with annual event Last year, Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall held its 10th anniversary of a Hanukkah concert series that was rebooted 70 years after it was halted by the Nazis, in what some Dutch Jews saw as a repudiation of antisemitism that had swelled during the war in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... This year, the concert has been called off — and the prestigious concert hall citing the chosen singer’s ties to the Israeli army. The Chanukah Concert Foundation, which organizes the event, had booked Shai Abramson to sing. Abramson is a retired lieutenant colonel for the IDF who serves as the army’s chief cantor. The Royal Concert Hall, or Concertgebouw, said in a statement on Sunday that it had pressed for months for a change to the program and canceled the concert, scheduled for December 14, when one was not made. "This decision was made because it was not possible to reach an agreement on an alternative to the performance by the IDF Chief Cantor," the statement said. It continued, "For The Concertgebouw, it is crucial that the IDF is actively involved in a controversial war and that Abramson is a visible representative of it." Cowards, Jew haters, or both? The Hanukkah concert was rebooted in 2015, 70 years after the Nazis ended the longstanding tradition in the city and murdered three-quarters of the Dutch Jewish population. The relaunch was billed as a chance to connect and celebrate the city’s Jewish residents, a community that has never come close to its pre-Holocaust size.Now, the Chanukkah Concert Foundation says the Concertgebouw is contributing to the "isolation the Jewish community feels it is being pushed into in the current era," even as the concert hall said it "always remains a place where the Jewish community is welcome." Clearly a lie. "The Jewish community has been facing exclusion in the cultural sector for over two years," the Chanukah Concert Foundation said in a statement on Sunday. "It is ironic that the Concertgebouw — where Chanukah celebrations have been held since December 14, 1921, a tradition interrupted only by World War II — is now confronting the Jewish community with exclusion and isolation."The Chanukah Concert Foundation said it would pursue legal action against the Concertgebouw, whose characterization of Abramson as an IDF representative it rejected. "He is an independent artist, invited by the State of Israel to sing at national memorial ceremonies," the foundation wrote in a statement. "Labeling him as an IDF representative fosters unwarranted negative sentiment toward Israel, the Jewish community in the Netherlands and visitors to the concert, purposely turning this great musical experience into a political event." The cantor’s website says his performances around the world are done "with the intention of developing and strengthening ties with Jewish communities around the world, and intensifying connections with Israel and with the IDF." The Hanukkah concert’s cancellation is not the first time the war in Gaza has interfered with plans at the Concertgebouw. In November 2023, a planned benefit concert for the Israeli humanitarian nonprofit ZAKA was canceled after the Concertgebouw demanded that half of the proceeds go to a Dutch Paleostinian aid group that had been accused of anti-Israel bias. Wow. That’s chutzpah. The following year, the concert canceled performances by a Jerusalem-based quartet, citing "safety" concerns over planned pro-Paleostinian demonstrations.Take it on the road to Munich — they have courage to spare. Amsterdam has been a hotspot of such demonstrations. Last year, the city was roiled by pro-Paleostinian protests, and a soccer game between the local team and Maccabi Tel Aviv sparked antisemitic mob violence against Israeli supporters.In March, the University of Amsterdam suspended a student exchange with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, accusing the school of failing to distance itself from the war in Gaza. As for the Hanukkah concert, the concert foundation says it will "assume that the concerts on December 14th will go ahead, including Cantor Abramson," amid its planned litigation. The Concertgebouw, meanwhile, has removed the concert from its website, where among the other upcoming performances listed are multiple by the Jerusalem Quartet, the group whose concert was canceled last year over security concerns. "Making this decision was extremely difficult," Concertgebouw Director Simon Reinink said in a statement about the Hanukkah concert cancellation. "Only in very exceptional cases do we make an exception to our important principle of artistic freedom. To our great regret, such an exception is now occurring. The intended performance by the chief cantor of the IDF is at odds with our mission: connecting people through music." French culture minister welcomes Israeli orchestra to Paris amid union criticism [IsraelTimes] French Culture Minister Rachida Dati throws her support behind a visit to Paris by Israel’s top orchestra, despite a French union criticizing it because of Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza. “Welcome to Israel’s national orchestra,” Dati writes on X. “Nothing justifies a boycott call for this moment of culture, sharing and communication. Freedom of creation and programming is a value of our republic. (There is) no pretext for antisemitism,” she says. The union, CGT Spectacle, representing workers in France’s entertainment sector, on October 29 criticized the concert the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is scheduled to give in Paris on Thursday, without calling for a boycott. “The Paris Philharmonic Hall cannot host the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra without reminding the public of the extremely serious accusations weighing on the leaders of that country (Israel) or the nature of the crime committed in Gaza,” the union said. It added that it viewed the concert as an attempt to bring about the “normalization” of Israel in international settings. On Monday, the Paris Philharmonic Hall issued a statement saying it hoped the Israeli concert would take place “in the best possible conditions.” It noted that it never demanded visiting musicians to “take a position… on the issue of ongoing conflicts or on sensitive political stakes.” Related: Amsterdam: 2025-11-02 Belgium's descent into a narco state: How cartels have taken control, with machine-gun street battles killing kids as young as 11 and so much cocaine flowing that police incinerators can't destroy it all Amsterdam: 2025-10-31 Turkish basketball team Fenerbahce to play home games against Israeli teams in Munich Amsterdam: 2025-10-30 Results in Netherlands vote UPDATE: Geert Wilders tied for first but other parties still shun him to form government |
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