NOSL Lenny Kuhr
NOS Nieuws•maandag, 17:30
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Sarah Bürmann
editor Domestic
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Sarah Bürmann
editor Domestic
The disruption of singer Lenny Kuhr’s concert yesterday in a theater in Waalwijk has caused vigilance in the theater world. An anti-Semitic action, says the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism. Theaters are preparing for possible new actions.
“I was stunned,” says the 74-year-old singer in conversation with NOS. “I was able to remain calm. People come for me and for the beautiful feeling I can give them.” That’s why she simply finished the concert, “also with the cooperation of the people in the audience, who found this terrible.”
Four visitors to the concert in the De Leest theater in Waalwijk suddenly stood up during the afternoon performance on Sunday, unfurled a Palestinian flag and started shouting. The activists also accused Kuhr’s family of complicity in genocide.
The singer’s children live in Israel and her grandson is conscripted into the Israeli army. Kuhr’s husband and an employee of the theater eventually evicted the group from the theater.
A pro-Palestinian group posted images of the unannounced action online:
Pro-Palestinian activists disrupt Lenny Kuhr’s performance
The action group that shared the video on social media could not be reached for questions from NOS.
Kuhr has filed a complaint against the four, who are suspected of insult, defamation, slander and disturbing public order. The police have camera images and audio clips that record the action. “And our people are searching through the reservations to find those people,” said a police spokesperson. “We take the matter seriously. It is a completely inappropriate action.”
Anti-Semitic action
An anti-Semitic action, says Eddo Verdoner, National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism. “She is being attacked and called a terrorist, a Zionist, apparently just because she is Jewish and has family in Israel.”
That’s intimidating and scary, says Verdoner. “The result of this is that Jews feel like outlaws and that they cannot simply express themselves culturally, because they can then expect these kinds of actions.”
Kuhr is also concerned about this. “My main concern is that as artists we can be free to do what we want and that we don’t have to pinch our butts on stage,” she says. “The question now is: how does the theater world deal with this? How do we prepare for terrorism?”
Kuhr and her husband about the disrupted concert in Waalwijk:
Lenny Kuhr about disrupted concert: ‘Since October 7 I have the feeling that the bear is loose’
The Association of Theater and Concert Hall Directors (VSCD) had contact with the Ministry of Culture, the Association of Dutch Municipalities and the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security this weekend, but that was in response to the terrorist attack on Friday in a theater in Moscow.
The threat level remains the same, but we have called on theater directors to maintain good contact with the police and the mayor.
Gabbi Mesters, Association of Theater and Concert Hall Managements
“The threat level remains the same, but we have called on theater directors to maintain good contact with the police and the mayor.” The action in Waalwijk has not changed that.
According to Gabbi Mesters of the VSCD, theaters can prepare for a demonstration, even if it has not been announced, such as Waalwijk. “We have shared a protocol with our members, stating how you can intervene adequately during a demonstration in the theater.” People have the right to demonstrate, Mesters emphasizes, but it is good that theaters think about how they respond to activists in the room. “We are in troubled times.”
Sliding scale
Since the war between Israel and Hamas, meetings have been disrupted more often by pro-Palestinian activists, Verdoner says. For example, during the opening of the National Holocaust Museum earlier this month. Yet yesterday afternoon’s action goes one step further, because it was directed against Kuhr personally.
Yet Kuhr does not see it as something personal, but as “anti-Jewish and anti-Israel”. “The hatred on their faces was so terrible. This didn’t have much to do with me personally. It was aimed at me, but it could be aimed at someone else tomorrow.” Unacceptable, says Verdoner. “A sliding scale that we as a society must defend and speak out against.”
You can’t get in with a flag
Tomorrow Kuhr will perform again in the Geert Teis theater in Stadskanaal. The director, Riëtte Kruize, has been in contact with the municipality and security services. As far as they are concerned, the concert can continue as normal. “We expect a nice, pleasant afternoon.”
She does take extra safety measures. “Fortunately, we normally don’t have to deploy security guards, but we do that now just to be on the safe side.” They are trained to act if necessary. “If someone brings a flag in, it won’t come in.” Ticket sales have also been stopped to prevent activists from buying tickets again to disrupt the performance.
“My great wish is that art is not affected by this,” says Kuhr. “Because this is really a place where we connect people with each other. That is absolutely contradictory to what happened yesterday.”