The Amsterdam police used force to disperse pro-Palestinian protests, detinning dozens.
The Amsterdam Police detained dozens of people who poured into the streets on Amsterdam this Sunday in support for Palestine.
The demonstration that took place in central Amsterdam had been outlawed following violence targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club a few days earlier.
According to reports by local media in Amsterdam, about 100 people were detained, and were taken away in buses. Police confirmed they were detaining demonstrators, but didn’t give numbers. The protesters yelled slogans including “Free, free Palestine.”
In was on Thursday last week that the violent scenes of young people on scooters and on foot attacking Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters disrupted the calm in central Amsterdam.
Before the match against Ajax, Maccabi fans also tore a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam and chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the stadium. There were also reports of Maccabi fans starting fights.
Rebuking the violence, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema banned all demonstrations over the weekend. On late Sunday afternoon, the municipality, together with Amsterdam police and public prosecutor’s office, extended the ban on demonstrations until Thursday morning.
Fearing further violence, Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands said this Sunday that 2,000 Israelis were brought home on special flights from Amsterdam over the past few days.
Videos on social media show a group of fans chanting “Let the Israeli army win” and “**** the Arabs” while dressed in gear to support their team, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported. More footage shows the Palestinian flag being torn down from the second story of a building in the area where fans had gathered, by an individual who had climbed on top of the awning on the building’s lower level to reach it.
