Dutch police arrest 22 at protest of Amsterdam Hanukkah concert featuring IDF cantor

Anti-Israel activists deface concert hall and threaten venues against ‘platforming Zionists’ after private performances by Shai Abramson, whose role in main concert was canceled

By Agencies, Luke Tress and ToI Staff 15 December 2025, 2:08 pm
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Police clash with protesters outside the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam during a series of Hanukkah-related events inside, some of which featured the official IDF cantor, Shai Abramson, December 14, 2025. (Screenshot via X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Police clash with protesters outside the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam during a series of Hanukkah-related events inside, some of which featured the official IDF cantor, Shai Abramson, December 14, 2025. (Screenshot via X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Dutch police said they arrested 22 people after clashes with protesters on Sunday outside an Amsterdam concert hall hosting a performance by the Israel Defense Forces’ official cantor.

The next morning, an anti-Israel group shared photos of red-paint graffiti on the walls of the concert hall, claiming credit for the vandalism and threatening other venues “considering platforming Zionists.”

Several hundred people gathered near the famous Concertgebouw hall on Sunday evening to protest a performance by Shai Abramson.

“The police intervened several times to keep the demonstrators at a distance and maintain public order,” the police said in a statement.

Footage circulating online showed the crowd chanting, and several demonstrators breaking through a barricade and clashing with police.

Signs shared on social media included inverted red triangles — a symbol used in Hamas propaganda to indicate a target — as well as comparisons of the Gaza war to the Holocaust, and celebration of the October 7 attack.

“October 7, 2023: The day indigenous people rose up against their occupier,” read one sign, referring to the Hamas-led terror onslaught — in which terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages — that started the Gaza war.

Riot police used batons as demonstrators set off smoke bombs, authorities said, adding one officer sustained minor injuries.

Police also arrested 22 people for offenses that included breaking public assembly rules, possessing fireworks and resisting arrest.

Ronny Naftaniel, executive vice president of the Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe group, posted a photo on X of a pro-Israel counterprotest.

“We stood there with 250 others, celebrating [Hanukkah] at the Concertgebouw. That is our right and we will continue to claim it. The flame of the light prevails over the forces of darkness. Always and everywhere,” he wrote.

Abramson was initially set to lead the Concertgebouw’s annual public Hanukkah concert on Sunday afternoon.

But in early November, after backlash, the Concertgebouw said it would cancel the program.

After that announcement caused an international uproar, however, the venue reached a compromise with the event’s organizers: While the main concert on Sunday afternoon was held without Abramson’s presence, he did perform at two private concerts later in the evening.

On Monday, the Pal Action NL group posted photos to its Instagram account of red paint splattered on the walls of the concert hall.

“Last night, after Het Concertgebouw allowed IOF war criminal and official cantor of the Zionist settler colony, Shai Abramson, to perform, some actionists decided to pay a little visit,” the group said.

“IOF” is a derogatory epithet for the IDF, with the “O” referring to “offensive” or “occupation,” and “Zionist settler colony” referring to the State of Israel.

“Het Concertgebouw now has Palestinian blood on their hands, and it will take a LONG time to wash away…” the group said.

It threatened: “A warning to all other venues and institutions in the country considering platforming Zionists, don’t. Or we will be visiting.”

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