Dozens detained after protesters defy mayor’s ban

November 10

Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been detained by police in Amsterdam after defying a ban on public protests in the Dutch capital.

Hundreds gathered in Dam Square on Sunday, calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza and expressing dissent towards the ban.

Demonstrations were temporarily banned by the mayor after Israeli football fans were targeted in so-called “hit-and-run” attacks on Thursday night after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

Authorities say the attacks – which caused five people to be hospitalised – were motivated by antisemitism as the fans were sought out across the city.

Others have pointed to footage appearing to show some Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans and burning a Palestinian flag before the violence occurred.

The clashes came amid a rise in antisemitism globally since the start of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The violence – which led to at least 62 arrests – was condemned by leaders in Europe, the US and in Israel.

The outcry was exacerbated by the attacks occurring on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht – Nazi pogroms against German Jews that took place in 1938.

Three-quarters of Jewish people in the Netherlands were murdered during the Holocaust in World War Two.

Amsterdam’s Mayor Femke Halsema announced a ban on public assembly on Friday lasting at least until the end of the weekend, deeming the city a “high-risk security area”.

But protesters on Sunday argued they should be free to voice their disapproval of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the actions of the Maccabi supporters.

“This protest has nothing to do with antisemitism,” Alexander van Stokkum, one of the demonstrators, told the AFP news agency on Sunday. “It is against Israeli hooligans who were destroying our city.”

Others told a Reuters journalist: “We refuse to let the charge of antisemitism be weaponised to suppress Palestinian resistance.”

The news agency reported that more than 100 people were detained for attending the protest. Police in Amsterdam confirmed there had been arrests, but have yet to say how many.

Following the protest ban, Dutch activist Frank van der Linde applied for an urgent permit so Sunday’s demonstration could go ahead.

On X, he said that he wanted to protest what he described as “the genocide in Gaza”, adding: “We will not let our right to demonstrate be taken away.”

Mr Van der Linde was overruled by Amsterdam’s district court, which wrote on Sunday that “the mayor has rightly determined that there is a ban on demonstrating in the city this weekend”.

Dutch national newspaper De Telegraaf reports Mr Van der Linde was among those arrested.

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