After Israeli hooligans sparked rioting in Amsterdam, Dutch police arrested a large number of pro-Palestine demonstrators.
After Israeli hooligans sparked rioting in Amsterdam, Dutch police arrested a large number of pro-Palestine demonstrators.
The demonstrators came together on Sunday to protest the media’s depiction of recent events as “anti-Semitism” and to counter the accusation that pro-Palestine supporters are to blame for the events that transpired after the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv game.
When police used batons to break up the throng, some protesters were hurt in the process.
Authorities in Amsterdam banned protests beginning Friday for three days.
Jazie Veldhuyzen, a senior city councilor, was one of those arrested.
Veldhuyzen told Anadolu Agency that the group of Palestine supporters decided to protest the ban, the Netherlands’ “complicity” in Israel’s homicidal war on Gaza, and the police and government’s alleged approval of Maccabi supporters attacking locals.
Inciting violence
There has been a great deal of concern about the incidents, which happened before and after Maccabi’s game versus Ajax. There have been allegations of Israeli supporters fighting with onlookers, damaging property, and lighting a Palestinian flag on fire.
Videos circulated on social media show Maccabi supporters beating a local taxi driver, destroying private property, and even battling police officers.
Despite videos showing Israeli hooligans hurling anti-Arab insults and inciting violence, Western media have placed the blame on pro-Palestine protestors.
