Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters had been arrested by police in Amsterdam after defying a ban on public protests within the Dutch capital.
Hundreds of individuals gathered in Dam Square on Sunday, calling for an finish to the battle in Gaza and expressing dissent over the ban.
Demonstrations had been quickly banned by the mayor after Israeli followers had been focused in what she referred to as “hit-and-run” assaults on Thursday night after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.
The Israeli authorities has suggested its residents to “categorically keep away from” Israeli sporting and cultural occasions overseas, notably the soccer match between France and Israel on Thursday in Paris.
Authorities say Thursday’s assaults – which left 5 individuals hospitalized – had been motivated by anti-Semitism as followers had been searched throughout town.
The violence – which led to at the least 62 arrests – it was condemned by European, US and Israeli leaders.
The protest was exacerbated by assaults that occurred on the eve of the commemoration of Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogroms in opposition to German Jews that occurred in 1938.
Three-quarters of the Jews within the Netherlands had been murdered throughout the Holocaust in World War II.
Amsterdam police mentioned there have been additionally issues the evening earlier than the match. Police Chief Peter Holla mentioned there have been incidents “on each side”, together with Israeli supporters eradicating a Palestinian flag from a wall and setting it on fireplace, and attacking a taxi.
The metropolis’s mayor, Femke Halsema, introduced a ban on public gatherings on Friday that may final at the least till the tip of the weekend, deeming town a “excessive safety danger space.”
But protesters argued on Sunday that they need to be free to specific their disapproval of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the actions of Maccabi supporters.
“This protest has nothing to do with anti-Semitism,” Alexander van Stokkum, one of many protesters, instructed the AFP information company on Sunday. “It is in opposition to the Israeli hooligans who had been destroying our metropolis.”
Others instructed a Reuters reporter: “We refuse to let the cost of anti-Semitism be used as a weapon to suppress Palestinian resistance.”
The information company reported that greater than 100 individuals had been arrested for taking part within the protest. Amsterdam police confirmed there had been arrests, however didn’t but say what number of.
Following the protest ban, Dutch activist Frank van der Linde requested pressing permission for Sunday’s demonstration to happen.
On X he mentioned he needed to protest in opposition to what he referred to as “the genocide in Gaza”, including: “We is not going to permit our proper to reveal to be taken away.”
Van der Linde was rejected by Amsterdam’s district court docket, which wrote on Sunday that “the mayor has rightly dominated that there’s a ban on demonstrations within the metropolis this weekend.”
The Dutch nationwide newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Mr Van der Linde was amongst these arrested.
The Israeli embassy within the Netherlands had beforehand warned Israelis in Amsterdam to keep away from Dam Square, saying the occasion “may end in important violent incidents.”
Israel’s National Security Council instructed its residents to keep away from public demonstrations “of any variety” and to cover “something that might determine you as Israeli/Jewish,” citing Thursday’s assaults.
“Preparations to hurt Israelis have been recognized in a number of European cities, together with Brussels (Belgium), main cities within the United Kingdom, Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Paris,” he mentioned.
The Paris police chief has promised that 4,000 officers might be deployed within the stadium and all through the French capital for the Nations League match on November 14.
