By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Dutch riot police armed with batons ended a violent anti-Israel protest at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) Monday, the latest in a series of rallies at universities in the Netherlands that saw Jewish students fear their future.
Monday’s clashes came after the pro-Palestine crowd, many of them wearing masks and Palestinian scarfs, entered a university building where they vandalized the complex.
Footage seen by Worthy News saw computers, a television, coffee, and candy machines smashed, while graffiti was painted on the ground, walls, windows, and desks, including slogans such as “free Palestine.”
Reporters were attacked and forced to leave the building, with riot police initially seemingly unable to end the protest. They later pushed backed protesters near the building and eventually forced those inside to leave, Worthy News monitored.
The violence broke out after students and staff organized a walkout of universities across the Netherlands on Monday morning.
They called for the Dutch universities to halt their complicity in “the ongoing genocide” in Gaza.
The protesters said the Dutch institutions should halt their ties with Israeli universities and other organizations and denounced “violent methods” that the police allegedly used to “suppress” peaceful protesters.
NATIONAL WALKOUT
The university said in a statement that “The National Walkout protest that started peacefully has unfortunately turned into an occupation” of the UvA’s Roeterseiland campus building, calling on protestors to leave.
UvA called police to the site, who confirmed the massive destruction by demonstrators. Damage is estimated at least 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) so far.
Sarah Bracke, a professor of sociology of gender and sexuality at UvA, said on X that she and her colleagues were “horrified” by the university’s executive board’s actions.
“For three consecutive days, they have authorized extreme police violence towards their staff and students, who were engaged in non-violent protest on campus against UvA’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” she stressed.
“We are shocked by the absolute disregard, disrespect, and general unwillingness of the Board towards its students and staff.”
Last Monday evening, Dutch police arrested over 100 people when breaking up an encampment at the university. In recent weeks, protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza have taken place on campuses around Europe.
Riot police also intervened to disband a demonstration camp on the university grounds last week, resorting to force against some protesters and dismantling their tents.
BELGIAN PROTESTS
In neighboring Belgium, students also joined the growing Dutch wave of anti-Israel and pro-Palestine protests, asking for an academic boycott at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) amid Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
The university students and other protesters, many speaking English, occupied the dining hall where they set their tents, blankets, carpets, sleeping bags, and food, reporters witnessed.
The demonstrators said they would only leave once the university cut all academic ties with Israel. Similar events also occurred in Ghent, Liège, and Brussels francophone universities.
Back in Amsterdam, a Jewish man wearing a Yarmulke watched in protest unfold in the distance. “I am not supporting this protest, but I am happy if it remains peaceful,” he said.
There have been numerous cases of antisemitism in the Netherlands since the war in Gaza broke out, triggered by the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 of some 1,200 people, including babies and raped, as well as the abduction of hundreds of others.
No Dutch university protests were reported on or shortly after the October 7 bloodshed, the worst single atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that 14,000 Hamas fighters and 16,000 civilians during Israel’s military operation in Gaza. However, Netanyahu said Hamas was hiding among civilians and forces many at gunpoint to stay in areas and at sites where Israeli strikes are expected.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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