Three arrested, some skirmishes at another pro-Gaza rally at University of Amsterdam

Three people were arrested during the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam on Thursday evening. They were arrested for criminally punishable insults and incitement, said a spokesperson for the Amsterdam police. After the protest, the police announced that they would be "visibly present" in the city to "be able to respond alertly to any disturbances."

Riot police briefly charged the crowd at the Spui in Amsterdam when a group of demonstrators prevented the passage of a police vehicle. Police officers dealt several severe blows to demonstrators, as could be seen on video footage from AT5. There were also other short confrontations between the riot police and the demonstrators, including on Rokin.

The situation was tense, and One of the demonstrators bled after being hit on the head, according to an ANP photographer. Some of the demonstrators sat down on the roadway at the Spui. Some demonstrators entered the stairs of the Maagdenhuis, a university building, but were removed from there again.

The police were already present in large numbers at the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) early on Thursday evening, where a pro-Palestinian activist group called for another protest rally. It was the third such demonstration at a city center campus of the University of Amsterdam this week.

There were a few thousand demonstrators on the campus at around 7:45 p.m. Palestinian flags were waving as protestors shouted, “Shame on UvA,” “Free Palestine,” and “The people united will never be defeated.” Boos and jeers rained down on the rank-and-file police officers and the mobile riot police units.

The protest group, Amsterdam Student Encampment, called for Thursday’s demonstration on its social media channels. It accused the university of deciding to “treat their own students cruelly” by pressing charges of vandalism and trespassing during earlier protests. They also accuse the UvA and the other Amsterdam universities of maintaining close ties to Israeli government bodies, Israeli universities, and Israeli companies.

The Amsterdam police wrote on X that the riot police were dispatched to the location to “prevent escalation,” and to ensure that demonstrators do not enter the closed areas of the UvA campus.

Activists then marched away from the campus and into the city center, eventually reaching the Spui and the Spuistraat for a sit-in attended by a few thousand people. The activist group involved asked demonstrators to end the demonstration with two minutes of silence.

The riot police have positioned themselves opposite the demonstrators. They charged into the crowd several times when protestors tried to block a riot police bus. Images from AT5 show a demonstrator being arrested. Calm returned to the Spuistraat a short time later.

The UvA’s decision on Monday and Wednesday was necessary to give police the ability to break up the protests. In both cases, the UvA made the decision after prolonged talks with the protest groups. On Wednesday, 36 people were arrested during a demonstration on the university's Binnengasthuis grounds. Eight of them were still in custody on Thursday evening.

The activists believe the deployment of the police during the pro-Palestinian protests in recent days was excessive. “The university has used police on peaceful protestors who stand in solidarity with Gaza and demand an end to complicity in genocide,” the activist group wrote on social media.

Five police officers were injured on Wednesday during efforts to break up the protest. Amsterdam Police Chief Frank Paauw said earlier on Thursday that the damage to the occupied buildings of the Binnengasthuis campus that day was extensive, and works of art valued at over a hundred thousand euros were used to form part of a barricade.

A spokesperson for the UvA confirmed this to NL Times. He was unable to provide a precise damage estimate as the situation was still being evaluated by their insurance firm. “The damage was huge,” he said.

Dozens of people were also demonstrating in Utrecht on Thursday night, footage from AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad shows. Activists are marching from the Janskerkhof to the Domplein.

The National Student Union (LSVb) supports the students who have demonstrated in Amsterdam and Utrecht over the last few days. “There have been no discussions regarding negotiations on an equal footing. That is the whole reason that these demonstrations started. Students are being hit instead of heard,” said chair Elisa Weehuizen in a statement.

The union called the demonstrations “a symptom of an unfair system for student participation” and wants students to have more influence on university policies.

The LSVb complained earlier about “the brutal eviction” of a student protest at the University of Amsterdam campus on the Roeterseiland. Chair Weehuizen was present at the demonstration.

On Tuesday, another building that belongs to the university at the Binnengasthuisterrein was occupied. Demonstrators built barricades made of pallets, fences, and street stones around the complex. The police removed the barricades at the end of Wednesday afternoon and ended the occupation.