AMSTERDAM: Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Sunday after they defied a ban on demonstrations put in place in Amsterdam in the wake of recent violence involving supporters of an Israeli football club.

Holding placards that said “We want our streets back” and chanting “Free Palestine”, hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered in the city’s Dam central square, where Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters had burned a Palestinian flag, and vandalised a taxi last week.

Following violence sparked by Maccabi supporters’ provocative actions, such as the burning of a Palestinian flag, some were briefly hospitalised.

As a result, Mayor Femke Halsema had banned protests in the city on Friday. Emergency measures, which also included heightened police protection and wearing of face masks, would be in place until Monday morning.

Hundreds defy Amsterdam protest ban placed by mayor

However, despite a heavy police presence, the peaceful protesters rallied against the ban on protests, an AFP correspondent saw. They chanted slogans and carried placards including one that read: “We can fight anti-Semitism and genocidal Zionism at the same time.”

Police in riot gear moved in on the protesters, shortly after the district court upheld the mayor’s decision to ban demonstrations, some three days after skirmishes between Tel Aviv football fans and pro-Palestinian activists.

Dutch activist Frank van der Linde had applied for an urgent permit to demonstrate on the city’s famous Dam Square, despite a temporary ban on protests. Frank van der Linde wanted to protest against the “genocide in Gaza, but also because our right to protest has been taken away,” Dutch national news agency ANP quoted him as saying.

The Europa League game on Thursday finished largely in a peaceful atmosphere, praised by the Ajax club.

But sporadic incidents beforehand were linked to Maccabi supporters, who were allegedly chanting anti-Palestinian and racist slogans, even disrespecting a moment of silence for victims of floods in Spain.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024