At mid-morning on Sunday, November 10, there were only ten of them, with scarves around their necks and a flag with the colors of Palestine on their backs, gathered in front of a few police officers in the Dam, the main square of the Dutch capital. They hoped to express their support for the victims in Gaza, despite the violent incidents that occurred on Thursday, November 7, after a soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Some 3,000 supporters of the Israeli team were present in the city, where clashes broke out in several places, despite the presence of some 800 police officers.
Frank van der Linde, one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian movement, had submitted an emergency appeal for permission to march at 2pm on Sunday, despite the city council’s announcement on Friday of a ban on all gatherings. A judge, however, rejected the activist’s appeal and confirmed that the measure decreed by the municipal authorities would remain in force for several days. considering that “The risk of clashes still exists”The magistrate relied in particular on information from the police, according to which, during the night from Saturday to Sunday, several people had been forced to prove that they were not Israelis in order to escape from small groups of violent people.
“We have to get back to what we really need to talk about: the genocide in Gaza. We’re really tired of looking like anti-Semites. Yes, there have been anti-Semitic incidents, but comparing them to a pogrom is completely unfounded.”explained van der Linde, alluding to the statements made on Friday by the highest Israeli authorities, as well as by Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV, far right), a member of the ruling coalition in The Hague.
Thursday’s fights left five people injured, who were quickly released from the hospital. On Saturday, all Maccabi fans returned to Israel. Four people, including two minors, remained detained before being brought before a judge, while a special police team examined all available images to identify other perpetrators of the violence. Lawyer Adem Çatbas, for his part, issued an invitation to make themselves known to all those who have been victims of “violence, incitement to hatred, insults and threats” allegedly committed by supporters of Israel.
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