NOS News•today, 4:53 PM•Amended today, 6:33 PM
Another pro-Palestinian demonstration is underway in Amsterdam. It started this afternoon at the university campus on Roeterseiland, where a demonstration by the police ended last night.
The demonstration is an initiative of teachers and students at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The demonstrators are now walking. According to the ANP news agency, at least two officers used a baton near the Holocaust Names Monument.
Officers tried to stop demonstrators who wanted to move towards the center via Weesperstraat. Several police vans block the road there. The demonstrators tried to get past the vans.
Police confirmed that the demonstration was moving and that officers were trying to keep demonstrators away from “sensitive points along the route”. The police say they used a baton once.
The UvA teachers and students started the demonstration partly in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who started a protest yesterday, which the police ended with violence at night.
The anti-Israel demonstrators walk through the center of Amsterdam:
New demonstration at UvA Amsterdam
Demonstrators said earlier today that they were furious about how the demonstration went yesterday. According to them, the demonstration was peaceful, but was disrupted by people from outside. The UvA also announced yesterday that the demonstration had a “pulling effect” and that that was one of the reasons for breaking off the protests.
The police acknowledged that they had intervened harshly, but… https://twitter.com/POL_Amsterdam/status/1787656558425391335 that violence was also used against them. “One colleague suffered hearing damage. We are very sorry that that happened.”
Nevertheless, the activists today believe that the police intervened too harshly by calling in the mobile unit.
Those present demonstrating today are shouting slogans such as ‘Free, free Palestine‘ and ‘Boycott Israel‘. Some carry Palestinian flags and signs with texts such as ‘End the genocide‘ and ‘Proud of our students‘.
The lecturers present endorse the students’ call for the UvA Executive Board to cut ties with Israeli “agencies that are complicit in genocide”, sociology teacher Sam Hamer said earlier. “We are demonstrating to push the UvA in that direction.”
‘There has been talk’
The UvA board said earlier today that it had entered into discussions with the demonstrators and pointed out that it published a list last night with collaborations with Israeli organizations “to meet one of the demands of the demonstrators”.
Furthermore, the university board says it regrets last night’s situation. “Demonstrations are allowed at the UvA, but without face coverings, blockades, overnight stays or an atmosphere of intimidation.” The university has filed a report of breach of the peace.
‘Disproportionate violence’
The Amsterdam Student Union ASVA and the National Student Union call last night’s eviction an example of disproportionate violence by the UvA against its own students.
“The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right that must be protected at all costs,” the ASVA said in a response. “This eviction was not only an attack on the integrity and safety of Amsterdam students, but also a violation of their democratic rights.”
The unions call on the university to respect the right to peaceful protest and to enter into a constructive dialogue to prevent incidents in the future.
Smaller protest in Utrecht
Protests are also taking place at Utrecht University. According to RTV Utrecht, this concerns about seventy people. They are sitting in the courtyard of the university library in the center of the city. They also protest against the situation in Gaza and demand, among other things, that Utrecht University sever all ties with Israeli universities.
