“Very dangerous”: Rights group condemns Kristallnacht speech

The Dutch rights group Rights Forum has condemned a recent Kristallnacht remembrance speech by Chanan Hertzberger, chair of Jewish umbrella organisation CJO, for condemning the Red Line protests and labeling the Gaza war as a genocide. Hertzberger's speech, delivered at Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue, was criticized for mixing the issue of anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel, which Rights Forum believes is "very, very, very dangerous."

The group argues that linking the protest to anti-Semitism in this way may make Jewish people in the Netherlands appear accountable for the policies of the Israeli government. Hertzberger acknowledged that not all demonstrators were anti-Semites, but claimed that the majority of Jewish people in the Netherlands are Zionists, and that those things are now "more important than ever."

Rights Forum spokesperson Gerard Jonkman stated that many Jewish people joined Sunday's Red Line demonstration and that Holocaust survivors and children of survivors were hurt by the speech.

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