William of Orange fought for freedom, a struggle that continues throughout the world today. Together with Amnesty International, we draw attention to freedom and human rights. In the exhibition, you will meet ten contemporary fighters, including Amr Hamshad. Like William, Amr opposes the current regime, forcing him to flee, but his struggle for freedom continues.
Then
William of Orange—raised in both Christian faiths—sees religious peace as a prerequisite for unity in society. Two faiths (Catholicism and Protestantism) and two nations (Spain and the Netherlands) are at odds with each other. He must choose. For William, there is little choice but to fight for independence.When the fighting breaks out in Breda, William flees. First to Germany and then to Delft. From here, he leads the Revolt: he establishes a rebel army and, as a defense, writes an ‘apology’ to explain why he has no choice but to continue the fight.
Now
We live in different times, but even today people are punished for their resistance to the regime. In the exhibition, you will meet Amr Hashad. He was imprisoned in 2014 because of his human rights activism in Egypt. Amr was released and fled abroad. There, he continued to denounce the human rights violations of the Egyptian government, but this came at the expense of his brother (Oqba). In 2019, a group of students, including Oqba, were arrested. All the students were later released, except for Oqba, because of the actions of his brother Amr. He is still being held in appalling conditions and is being mistreated. Amnesty International is campaigning for his release.