Five cops hurt at Amsterdam Gaza protest rally; "Significant" damage, Police chief says

Five police officers were injured while breaking up a protest in support of Gaza at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on Wednesday, Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw told the radio program Sven op 1. The university has suffered “signifcant” damage due to the demonstrations, he said.

One of the injured cops got ammonia in his eyes. “The other injuries are minor, but every injury is one too many,” Paauw said. “I don’t want to say that throwing a stone is normal, but this is absurd. It looks like street terrorism. How do you come up with taking ammonia with you and throwing or spraying it at the police?”

Paauw said that the demonstrations left considerable damage behind at the university. “On the street near the barricade, there are artworks worth up to 100,000 euros,” he said. He could not say whether it concerns cultural heritage. “The paneling, everything there is, has either been destroyed or has graffiti sprayed on it. The UvA has recovered the buildings, but they have suffered significant damage. “

A spokesperson for the UvA said there were indeed works of art placed at the barricades. He could not provide an exact damage estimate yet, saying that their insurance provider is in the process of working with them to catalogue the damages.

“The damage was huge,” he told NL Times. He was unable to say when the University of Amsterdam will be able to release a more precise estimate saying the situation was still very recent.

The police arrested 32 protesters while ending the demonstration, and another four later. All 36 are still in custody. “Particularly because of public violence, vandalism, and incitement.”