Ministers criticize pro-Palestinian protest at Amsterdam Univ.; 4 still in custody

Dutch Ministers criticized demonstrators who set up tents on a University of Amsterdam campus to protest against the war in Gaza. Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf called it “sad” that the police had to intervene. Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz said she watched “with disgust” as the police cleared demonstrators from the campus. The police arrested 140 protesters, four of whom are still in custody. None of the men who attacked the protesters earlier in the evening have been arrested.

Outgoing Education Minister Dijkgraaf (D66) said it was “sad to see” that the police had to intervene to restore order at the University. “Universities are excellent places for debate and dialogue. Expressing dissatisfaction and emotions is allowed. But do so in a way that is safe and feels safe for everyone,” he said.

Yeşilgöz (VVD) said she was disgusted by the police having to drag away demonstrators. “I really thought it was terrible. I don’t understand what gets into those people,” she said. The VVD leader called it a shame for people who want to demonstrate, saying that right is “completely hijacked by pure scum.”

Israel responded to a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 with incessant and continuous attacks on the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israeli attacks have killed at least 34,735 people in Gaza, including over 14,500 children. More than 78,108 people are injured and over 8,000 are missing, Al Jazeera reported based on figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, updated at 4:00 p.m. on May 6, local time. Around 1,139 people were killed in Israel in the Hamas attack.

The protesters set up tents on the Roeterseiland campus and barricaded two bridges and the entrance to the campus on Nieuwe Prinsengracht. They demanded that all Amsterdam universities break their ties with Israel over the slaughter in Gaza, among other things.

The university asked demonstrators to leave several times last night, but few complied. The riot police arrived on site at 3:00 a.m., and by 4:30 a.m., most protesters were gone. On Tuesday, the police reported that they arrested 140 protesters and that four were still in custody - three for public violence and one for insult. A police spokesperson told NOS that one cop was injured while evicting demonstrators. “Bricks and fireworks were thrown at us,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier in the evening, at around 8:30 p.m., a group of around ten men suddenly attacked the demonstrators. The men threw fireworks at the protesters and physically assaulted them. The police have not arrested anyone for this attack, a police spokesperson told Parool. The group has the police’s “attention,” the spokesperson said.

The University of Amsterdam “deeply regrets” that the demonstration “turned out this way,” the university’s executive board wrote in a letter to students on Tuesday. “Demonstrations are allowed at the UvA, but without face coverings, blockades, overnight stays, or an atmosphere of intimidation.” The university said that the demonstration turned unsafe and grim. “With several incidents involving throwing fireworks, hitting people, burning the Israeli flag and erecting barricades.”

According to Willem Jebbink, the lawyer representing many of the arrested protesters, the demonstrators were unlawfully arrested. The police arrested them for “breach of a leasehold,” he pointed out. “Breach of a leasehold is the act of staying on someone else’s land against the will of the rightful owner. That is punishable, but does not apply to plots near buildings ‘intended for public services,’ such as universities.”

“Mayor [Femke] Halsema has really let down the pro-Gaza demonstrators,” Jebbink said. The Amsterdam mayor should have protected the protesters in their peaceful demonstration. “She is obliged to do this under international law. But our Public Manifestations Act also applies here. It concerns a site at a university that is freely accessible to the public.”