Amsterdam climate protest blocks A10 highway; Pro-Palestinian group blocks central road

Protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR) entered the A10 motorway near the former ING headquarters in Amsterdam just after noon on Saturday. It was one of two demonstrations in the capital expected to cut off ground transportation, with the other being a smaller group of pro-Palestinian supporters who created a blockade on the Piet Heinkade.

The police tried to stop the climate protest blockade on the A10, but their efforts were in vain. About a hundred demonstrators walked onto the highway, some of them dressed in orange in connection with the national King's Day holiday on Saturday. They were later joined by more protestors who walked onto the road from another point.

After half an hour, the police called on the demonstrators to leave for another location where the demonstration was allowed. They said that anyone who refuses will be arrested, according to the police. The demonstrators brought large banners with them, which they unfurled across the entire width of the highway. One of them stated, "ING, stop fossil financing."

The police started to put an end to the demonstration after 12:45 p.m. Police officers started by removing people from the highway.

The climate activist group has spent months demanding that ING Bank immediately stop all financing of the fossil fuel industry, and has said the bank's plans to shift more money towards sustainable projects is both too slow, and not good enough. ING has not had a physical presence in the building in a decade, but still owns the property.

The Amsterdam mayor, police chief, and head of the district office of the Public Prosecution Service has called the A10 blockade irresponsible, particularly on King's Day. The capital was anticipating tens of thousands of people to arrive from other parts of the Netherlands, and many tourists planned to be in Amsterdam this weekend for the national holiday.

The city leadership was concerned about shifting police resources to handle the demonstration, and has long maintained that blocking a 100 kilometer per hour highway is dangerous for the demonstrators and for drivers. The Extinction Rebellion protest on the A10 was banned.

In the past, the city has said a demonstration in front of the former ING building would be allowable, but the activist group rejected the offer in favor of stopping traffic on the A10 ring road. The last attempt to block the A10 on March 30 failed. In February and December, XR managed to hold a demonstration on the Amsterdam highway.

Meanwhile, about 30 activists blocked the Piet Heinkade in Amsterdam on Saturday. They staged a sit-in on the road, waved Palestinian flags, and shouted slogans against the war, against Israel, and against King Willem-Alexander. The presence of a group of people clad in Orange who were stranded due to the blockade led to a brief moment of unrest.

The demonstrators gathered in the rain on Saturday morning near Amsterdam's central train station and walked from there to the Piet Heinkade, where they partially blocked the intersection with Kattenburgerstraat near Pakhuis de Zwijger. The road runs towards the center.

They shouted slogans such as, "From the river to the sea," "Intifada, intifada," "Not my leader not my king," and "Willem shame! Blood on your hands." A single demonstrator was wearing a vest with the logo from climate activist group Extinction Rebellion.

The action was announced in advance by a group calling itself The Road to Free Palestine. The blockade was intended as a "statement against genocide," they said. They chose King's Day for the demonstration because they believe that the king should speak out against Israel's actions in Gaza.

A group of King's Day fans in a bus that could not continue due to the blockade turned on loud music right next to the demonstration. The activists tried to shout their slogans over the noise. A number of people briefly fought with each other, but the police separated them.

A police representative confirmed that they were aware of the blockade, and that it was being allowed for the time being.