By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Dutch police ended a pro-Palestine protest on the campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and detained some 125 people in scenes resembling a warzone, officials said Tuesday.
The crackdown began Monday after Jewish organizations and others expressed concerns about the protests at several Dutch universities as Jewish students were reportedly intimidated and attacked.
After a tense standoff, riot police moved in early Tuesday to clear the protest camp on campus to maintain order, authorities said.
Police reported halfway through the night that there was unrest on Roeterseiland Campus of UvA, a former Amsterdam island where the tents were located.
“It is restless on Roeterseiland. Protesters use violence against the police. We are present in large numbers,” police warned citizens on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, “the tough police deployment is necessary to restore order. We also see the images [of the riots] on social media. We understand that this can sometimes look intense,” police added in comments monitored by Worthy News.
A live stream from Amsterdam city television channel AT5 showed fireworks being thrown. Demonstrators also tried to stop a riot police attempt to remove barricades on the site, witnesses said.
TENT CITY
The demonstration started Monday when protesters set up tents on campus.
They demanded, among other things, that all Amsterdam universities “sever their ties with Israel.” The protesters blocked two Amsterdam bridges and an entrance to the campus with pallets and other items.
Yet, Amsterdam police complained that the protest led to an unsafe situation, “partly due to the barricades that prevented emergency services from entering the site. In the event of an emergency, the activists themselves could possibly become stuck there.”
The atmosphere changed around 8:30 PM local time Monday when some ten men sought the confrontation with the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, witnesses said.
The men allegedly also beat demonstrators and used torches and fireworks.
While they were chased off the site by the demonstrators, police said there were also “en masse” stones were removed from the ground, apparently to use against security forces.
The UvA announced that it would press charges against the demonstrators if they actually spent the night on the site, something hundreds intended to do.
US INSPIRATION
Pro-Palestinian protests have already taken place at universities in the United States in recent weeks.
Police arrested nearly 300 people during the eviction of Columbia University in New York, where the mayor condemned relaxing the U.S. flag with a pro-Palestine banner.
Fighting also broke out at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after pro-Israel counter-protesters allegedly tried to cross the barricades set up by pro-Palestinian students.
The UvA, where Tuesday’s riots occurred, claims to belong to Europe’s top universities.
With over 40,000 students, 6,000 staff members, and 3,000 PhDs, the UvA says they “are a hub of academic research and education.”
The UvA, founded in 1632 by municipal authorities, is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlands still in operation.
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