Police and protesters clash in Amsterdam as successive pro-Palestinian encampments roil city
Protesters had occupied part of the Rokin, a canal and thoroughfare in the city’s center
Police face pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Amsterdam, May 8, 2024. (Mouneb Taim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
By Ron Kampeas May 8, 2024
(JTA) — Police in Amsterdam warned people to avoid a canal and thoroughfare in the city’s center as an effort to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment there turned violent on Wednesday.
Rioters tossed ammonia, an irritant that could cause permanent sight damage, at police moving into the encampment, Amsterdam’s police said Wednesday in a tweet, adding, “Police call on everyone to go home. We are acting to stop this violence.”
Video streaming on Dutch news sites showed police in riot gear pushing back against protesters wearing Palestinian scarves. At one point, three police pulled a woman off of an earth mover clearing away the encampment.
The clashes came a day after police raided an encampment at the University of Amsterdam, one of a growing number of European universities to replicate the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have rippled across U.S. campuses for the last several weeks. The protesters want the universities to cut ties with Israel and its institutions.
Video has circulated of the pro-Palestinian protesters striking pro-Israel counter-protesters with planks of wood at the university.
In March, pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated against the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the opening of the country’s new National Holocaust Museum.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
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