Utrecht police angered by mayor saying she didn't permit violence at pro-Gaza protest
There is unrest and anger at the Utrecht police about Mayor Sharon Dijksma, sources from within the police told the PowNed program Het Misdaadbureau. After the riot police used violence to end a pro-Palestine protest at Utrecht University, Dijksma said that the use of force was not part of the instructions she gave in advance.
On Monday evening, the police arrested 49 protesters who had occupied an Utrecht University on the Drift in the city center, demanding that the university cut ties with Israel due to the suffering in Gaza. The riot police used force against the protesters while removing them from the building and putting them on a bus. According to Dijksma, the municipality did not include the use of force in its instructions to the police and will now investigate why it happened.
Officers are furious and feel like the mayor threw them under the bus, Patrick Fluyt of the police union ACP told the program. Sources added that some riot police officers no longer want to work under Dijksma’s authority.
“I think that Dijksma’s statements cast doubt on the legitimacy of my colleague’s actions,” Fluyt said. “This is unacceptable. Saying this at the expense of my colleagues is going too far. It hits hard with the colleagues on the street who maintain order day and night and try to supervise demonstrations.”
According to Fluyt, there was a meeting with the involved police officers this morning, and emotions are running high. He “assumes” that the police chief will discuss this with the mayor “in the very short term.”
Fluyt added that the police have been dissatisfied with Mayor Dijksma’s attitude for some time. “The colleagues do not experience any support from this mayor. They get the feeling that the mayor is mainly talking for her own electorate.”
The university building on Drift 13 remained closed on Tuesday for cleanup and repair work after Monday’s occupation. It reopened on Wednesday, RTV Utrecht reported. According to the university, the protesters caused thousands of euros of damage.
The protesters are already planning new actions, one told RTV Utrecht. “Tens of thousands of Gazans have already died as a result of the genocide that Israel is committing,” the activist said. “[The university] can increase the pressure on Israel if they break ties, but they don’t do that.”
The university announced on Friday that it would stop a project in which the Israeli Ministry of Health is also participating and that it would not enter into any new collaborations with Israeli organizations for the time being. However, current collaborations with Israeli institutions will continue.
