Pro-Palestine demonstrators have rallied in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam despite selective arrests and a heavy-handed crackdown by police, days after the violence between fans of an Israeli football club and pro-Palestinians in the Netherlands.
On Nov. 10, Palestine solidarity groups convened in Amsterdam to rally in support of Palestine and against Israel’s genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip despite a ban on protests.
They also voiced their strong dissent against the characterization of the November 7 events as “anti-Semitic,” when violence broke out before and after a match between the Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax.
“We refuse to let the charge of anti-Semitism be weaponized to suppress Palestinian resistance,” they said, according to the Resistance News Network Telegram channel.
The peaceful rally, however, was met with violence from Dutch police, who brutally beat demonstrators and arrested dozens.
“Amidst a heavy police presence, protestors were beaten and dozens were arrested. We contrast this with November 7th, where hordes of violent Zionists harassed and beat locals for two days, spewed slurs, disrespect, and insults, and in the end, were flown out of the city by private planes while over 60 Arab and local youth were arrested by police,” the Resistance News Network added.
According to police, the clashes on Nov. 7 commenced after the Israeli fans tore down Palestinian flags and shouted anti-Arab slogans. More than 60 people, mostly pro-Palestine Moroccan youths, were arrested during the clashes in Amsterdam.
Pro-Palestinian groups and anti-Zionist organizations in the Netherlands have denounced the Dutch police for carrying out selective arrests during the clashes that broke out in the wake of clashes on Thursday night.
On Nov. 9, the anti-Zionist Jewish Collective, Erev Rav, in the Netherlands announced in a statement that it had canceled an event in Amsterdam, citing the large presence of Zionist Israelis in the city, with the intent to continue acts of violence, which made it impossible to ensure the safety of speakers and attendees.
The group also strongly condemned the Amsterdam police’s handling of the situation following the match over two consecutive nights in the city.
“We are deeply concerned that instead of restraining groups who caused disturbances in the city—including tearing down Palestinian flags from private residences and engaging in racist chanting—the police allowed the situation to escalate into widespread street violence.
It is troubling that arrests were selective, primarily targeting local Moroccan youth who confronted these groups, while Maccabi fans who initiated provocations faced no consequences,” the Erev Rav stressed.
During the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, human rights advocacy groups had called for barring the Israelis from all sports events over the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the occupying regime’s barbaric crimes against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip amid the Israelis ongoing genocidal war in the region, which has killed over 43,500 Palestinians.
Hundreds of Palestinian athletes have been killed since October 7 last year when the regime began waging the war in Gaza which has now extended to Lebanon. (PressTV.ir)
