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Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in Amsterdam on Sunday after ignoring a ban on demonstrations announced after violent clashes between Israeli football fans and groups of youths only days before.
Amsterdam District Court had upheld a decision by the mayor to ban protests in the city, the scene of fighting between Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans and men who had gathered in several areas of the city.
Nonetheless, hundreds of protesters defied the ban and gathered in central Amsterdam's Dam Square, brandishing placards that said "We want our streets back" and chanting "Free Palestine". Police in riot gear advanced on the protesters shortly after the court upheld the ban and made dozens of arrests.
The violence broke out on Thursday night, when some supporters of the Israeli football club, in Amsterdam for Uefa Europa League clash between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, were taken to hospital after being attacked.
Dutch activist Frank van der Linde applied for an urgent permit to demonstrate in Dam Square, not only because of the "genocide in Gaza, but also because our right to protest has been taken away". But the court upheld the temporary ban on protests announced by city mayor Femke Halsema, commenting on X that she "has rightly decided that there will be a ban on demonstrating in the city this weekend".
The protesters who arrived at the square on Sunday, described as peaceful, chanted slogans and carried placards, including one that read: "We can fight anti-Semitism and genocidal Zionism at the same time."
Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said tension was building ahead of Thursday's match at the Johann Cruyff Arena, when Maccabi fans burnt a Palestinian flag in Dam Square and vandalised a taxi.
After the game, which largely passed off peacefully, groups of men on scooters engaged in "hit-and-run" attacks on Maccabi fans in various areas of the city. Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands said 2,000 Israelis had been brought home on special flights from Amsterdam over the past few days.
Sixty-three people were arrested before and during the Europa League match but, so far, none in connection with the violence after the game, prosecutors said. Police have launched a major investigation and more arrests are expected.
