Police arrest 205 people at Gaza-support protest around Hague Central Station

The Hague police arrested 205 people at a Gaza-support protest at Den Haag Central Station on Thursday evening. According to the police, the protest had a grim atmosphere, and activists were guilty of “transgressive actions” that could “harm the interests of others.” One detainee is suspected of insulting the police and using violence against officers. One officer was injured.

For comparison, during violent far-right riots in The Hague on September 20, in which rioters set fire to police cars, blocked the A12 highway, sought confrontations with the riot police, and attacked political buildings, the police arrested 37 people.

Thursday’s demonstration was intended to draw attention to the Global Sumud Flotilla trying to get aid to Gaza and the activists Israel arrested on Wednesday and Thursday. Israel says it arrested around 500 activists. Around 16 Dutch activists are in Israeli custody, according to NOS.

The protest started near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague at 3:30 p.m. and moved to the Central Station around 6:00 p.m. According to the police, they repeatedly asked the demonstrators to go to the designated location on Laan van Reagan en Gorbachev, but they refused.

At the train station, demonstrators protested in the station hall and on the platform. “Some even went onto the tracks. The atmosphere quickly became grim,” the police said.

The police arrested 205 protesters. “One of the protesters insulted the police, and this same protester also used violence against the police, injuring a police officer,” the police said. The police called this aggression against police officers “unacceptable.”

“Aggression or violence, in any form, against staff will not be tolerated. The police and the judiciary take the same approach in this matter: reports are always recorded, the Public Prosecution Service prioritizes suspects before the court, and three times higher sentences are demanded against these suspects.”

Several of the 37 people arrested for the anti-immigration riots in The Hague last month have stood trial and been convicted. Most were sentenced to community service, and a few got prison sentences. The longest prison sentence handed down was six weeks.