World Courant
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested by police in Amsterdam after defying a ban on public protests within the Dutch capital.
A whole bunch gathered on Dam Sq. on Sunday to name for an finish to the battle in Gaza and specific their dissatisfaction with the ban.
Demonstrations had been briefly banned by the mayor after Israeli soccer followers had been focused in so-called hit-and-run assaults after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday night.
Authorities say the assaults – which hospitalized 5 folks – had been motivated by anti-Semitism, as followers had been sought out throughout town.
Others have pointed to footage displaying some Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans and burning a Palestinian flag earlier than the violence occurred.
The clashes got here amid a world rise in anti-Semitism for the reason that begin of the continued battle between Israel and Hamas.
The violence – which led to at the least 62 arrests – was condemned by leaders in Europe, the US and Israel.
The outrage was exacerbated by the assaults that occurred on the eve of the anniversary of Kirstallnacht – Nazi pogroms towards German Jews that occurred in 1938.
Three quarters of the Jewish inhabitants within the Netherlands was murdered throughout the Holocaust in World Warfare II.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema introduced on Friday a ban on public gatherings that can final at the least till the tip of the weekend, contemplating town a “high-risk safety space.”
However demonstrators argued on Sunday that they need to be free to precise 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 demonstrators, advised the AFP information company on Sunday. “It’s towards Israeli hooligans who destroyed our metropolis.”
Others advised a Reuters journalist: “We refuse to permit the accusation of anti-Semitism for use as a weapon to suppress Palestinian resistance.”
The information company reported that greater than 100 folks had been arrested for attending the protest. The police in Amsterdam confirmed that arrests have been made, however can’t but say what number of.
Following the protest ban, Dutch activist Frank van der Linde utilized for an emergency allow in order that Sunday’s demonstration may proceed.
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Van der Linde was overruled by the Amsterdam courtroom, which wrote on Sunday that “the mayor has rightly established that there’s a ban on demonstrations within the metropolis this weekend.”
De Telegraaf experiences that Mr Van der Linde was amongst these arrested.
