Dutch Police Seize Scores at Pro-Palestinian Rally after Football Unrest

 Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Dutch Police Seize Scores at Pro-Palestinian Rally after Football Unrest

 Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Dutch police took away more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters on Sunday who defied a ban on demonstrations in Amsterdam following clashes this week involving Israeli football fans.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital's Dam Square, chanting "Free Palestine" and "Amsterdam says no to genocide", in reference to the Gaza war.

Israel denies allegations of genocide in its more than year-long offensive against Palestinian group Hamas.

After a local court ratified the city council's ban, police moved in, instructing protesters to leave and rounding up more than 100 of them, according to a Reuters journalist.

They were put on buses and dropped off on the outskirts of the city, police spokesperson Ramona van den Ochtend said, without confirming how many had been picked up.

One protester was taken to an ambulance bleeding.

The ban, which authorities extended for another four days until Thursday, has been in place since Friday after attacks on Israeli football supporters following a match between visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

At least five people were injured in assaults that Dutch authorities and foreign leaders including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced as antisemitic.

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Protest organizers said in a message on Instagram that they were outraged by the "framing" of unrest around the match as antisemitic and called the protest ban draconian.

"We refuse to let the charge of antisemitism be weaponized to suppress Palestinian resistance," they said.

Four people remain detained on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors. Another 40 people have been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offences including vandalism.

As well as suffering attacks by what the mayor called "antisemitic hit-and-run squads", visiting Israeli fans burned a Palestinian flag and used sticks, pipes and rocks in clashes with opponents, according to a video and police report.

Before the match against Ajax, Maccabi fans tore a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam and chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the stadium. There were also reports of Maccabi fans starting fights.

Local police chief Olivier Dutilh told the court on Sunday that the protest ban was still needed as antisemitic incidents were continuing, including people being pushed out of taxis and told to show their passports on Saturday night.

The Netherlands has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents since the Gaza war began in October last year.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced in Israel's military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials there, launched after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage in a cross-border attack, according to Israel.



Iranian President: We Must Manage Relationship and Confrontation with the US Ourselves

Photo published by the Iranian presidency on Tuesday of a meeting chaired by Pezeshkian.
Photo published by the Iranian presidency on Tuesday of a meeting chaired by Pezeshkian.
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Iranian President: We Must Manage Relationship and Confrontation with the US Ourselves

Photo published by the Iranian presidency on Tuesday of a meeting chaired by Pezeshkian.
Photo published by the Iranian presidency on Tuesday of a meeting chaired by Pezeshkian.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on Tuesday for the “management” of the tense relations between Tehran and Washington, emphasizing the need to “deal with enemies with patience.” This statement comes a week after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
According to official media, Pezeshkian told current and former senior officials in the diplomatic sector that Iran cannot ignore its longstanding adversary, the United States.
“Whether we like it or not, we will have to engage with the United States on both regional and international fronts; therefore, it is better that we manage this relationship and confrontation ourselves,” he stated.
Pezeshkian was speaking at an “advisory” meeting on foreign policy with former Iranian FMs and members of his administration, including Ali Akbar Velayati and Kamal Kharazi, the top advisors to the Supreme Leader on international affairs and foreign policy, along with former foreign minister and head of the Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi.
The Iranian presidency’s website quoted Pezeshkian as saying that his administration’s approach to foreign policy would be “within the framework of a comprehensive strategy aligned with the directives of the governing system,” indirectly referencing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The reformist-backed president stated: “We must treat our friends generously and approach our enemies with patience,” underscoring the importance of managing foreign relations and addressing international tensions to solve internal issues and promote development.
Several officials in Pezeshkian’s administration, along with pro-government newspapers, have hinted at discussions on the possibility of high-level negotiations with the Trump administration.
Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani stated that Iran would pursue whatever serves its “interests,” in response to a question on potential direct talks with the Trump administration.
“The government will strive to achieve whatever ensures the country’s interests and the values of the revolution,” she said, according to the government’s ISNA news agency.
She added that the final decision on negotiations rests with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council under his authority.