Dutch police arrest dozens of pro-Palestine protesters in Amsterdam
Dutch police arrested dozens of protesters who held a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration in Amsterdam on Sunday, defying a ban ordered days after clashes provoked by Israeli football fans took place in the city.
Earlier in the day, the Amsterdam District Court put in place a three-day ban on protests following unrest between Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans and Dutch youth.
On Wednesday and Thursday, travelling Maccabi Tel Aviv fans stirred trouble in different parts of the Dutch capital by chanting racist anti-Arab slogans ahead of their Uefa Europa League match against Amsterdam club Ajax.
Hooligans were also seen removing at least two Palestinian flags from what appeared to be residential buildings the night before the match.
On match day, Israeli fans heading to the Johan Cruyff Arena stadium were heard shouting “Let the IDF [Israeli army] fuck the Arabs”, according to footage shared on social media.
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They also refused to participate in a minute of silence before kick-off for at least 200 people who died in the Valencia floods.
Clashes in the city
Amid the provocations against Arabs in the city, clashes erupted between the Israeli hooligans and a number of Dutch youths before and after the match and late into the night.
In one video posted by news site Bender, a large group of Maccabi supporters were seen arming themselves with sticks, pipes and rocks and twice clashing with opponents when they marched into the city.
Other videos showed people attacking and chasing some of the Israeli fans.
Mayor Femke Halsema on Friday said the attacks were carried out by "antisemitic hit-and-run squads", a narrative widely slammed on social media, and announced a protest ban and emergency measures to stay in place until Monday morning.
On Sunday afternoon, however, hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered in Dam Square, in the city centre, amid heavy police presence.
The protesters chanted slogans and carried placards including one that read: "We can fight anti-Semitism and genocidal Zionism at the same time."
Speaking to Middle East Eye, Nicholas McGeehan, a founder of rights group FairSquare, highlighted the track record of racist chanting by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and criticised how Dutch authorities painted them as "innocent victims of antisemitism."
"The well-documented racism and violence exhibited by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam mirrors the thuggery of the Israeli government in Gaza and Lebanon,” McGeehan told Middle East Eye on Friday.
"This does not excuse the violence that was meted out to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, but to present them as innocent victims of antisemitism is a gross misrepresentation of the facts."
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