Amsterdam – Unknown individuals defaced the door of Doctors Without Borders in Amsterdam on Sunday with blue and white paint. Paint was also thrown at the meter-long banner on the building reading “Stop the genocide now.” A replica of a Hamas tunnel was also placed in front of the building on Sunday.
It’s unknown who threw the paint. The blue and white paint, the colors of the Israeli flag, was thrown against the building early Sunday morning. Police were present at the building. A cleaning company was working to remove the paint from the door. Doctors Without Borders issued a statement saying it “regrets” the vandalism and will file a report.
Doctors Without Borders: informed in advance
The AzG office is located fifty meters from the Hollandsche Schouwburg, from where Jews were deported to concentration camps during the war, and diagonally across from the Holocaust Museum; both are part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter. According to Doctors Without Borders, there is “good contact” with this museum organization: “We informed them in advance about the banner.”
“The situation in Gaza is highly emotional, but vandalism is never acceptable,” adds Doctors Without Borders, and Rachel Meijler, who built the Hamas tunnel, agrees. “This is simply unacceptable.”On Sunday, she demonstratively stood across from the AzG building with the tunnel. She couldn’t say who did it either. She arrived when the cleaners were already working. “I think there were people who thought they were supporting us by throwing that paint, but what they did was actually counterproductive.”
Hamas terror attacks on Israel
On October 7th, during the commemoration of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, she stood with the tunnel replica on Dam Square. Pro-Palestinian activists had previously defaced the Royal Palace on Dam Square with red paint. “This was probably a reaction,” said Meijler. “Don’t do this. This is precisely what I’m fighting against. I’m against polarization and for dialogue.”
She had invited AzG director Karel Hendriks to visit the tunnel, but he declined. Meijler finds this disappointing, as he believes Doctors Without Borders accuses Israel of genocide but ignores the suffering of the Israeli people. The tunnel offers a glimpse into the conditions Hamas hostages endured.”Neutrality does not mean that we, as an organization, remain silent when we witness crimes,” Hendriks writes in his rejection. Meijler: “Doctors, of all people, should be independent. They have taken the Hippocratic Oath; it shouldn’t matter who your patients are.”
But according to Hendriks, AzG has also condemned Hamas violence, he writes: ‘When they fire rockets near hospitals and thus endanger our patients.’A spokesperson for Karel Hendriks stated that “as aid workers, we don’t take sides.” “For example, we offered aid to Israel immediately after the horrific Hamas attack on October 7th, and again when rockets from Iran hit civilian targets in Israel.”Because Hendriks didn’t want to come and watch, Meijler placed the tunnel in front of the door. “That way, at least he can see it. I think it’s important that he knows the conditions under which the hostages were held.”
It was her
27th visit to the tunnel. She will continue to do so until the body of the last deceased hostage is returned to their relatives.”Three bodies haven’t been returned yet. You can tell the attention is starting to wane. The relatives feel like the last child in the schoolyard waiting to be picked up. Will they still come? Am I not forgotten? It’s heartbreaking. They all have to come back. Until then, I’ll keep traveling with the tunnel.”
