The Dutch Police arrested 125 people this Tuesday in an action that put an end to a camping trip in the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in protest against Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and to demand that the authorities in the Dutch capital break relations with Israel.
According to the latest update from the Dutch Police, the situation “It’s calm right now, a group of approximately 125 people have been arrested, and officers are still visibly present around the campus” of Roerterseiland, one of the four that the UvA has and headquarters of the faculties of Law, Social Sciences, Economics and Business.
The Amsterdam city council, together with the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office, decided this morning that the protest camp had to be evacuated because it represented a crime of property violation.
The university itself asked the protesters several times to leave since last night, without them agreeing to erect the tents installed on the campus in protest of the war in Gaza.
Finally, the officers decided to intervene, according to the Police, after several people threw fireworks at them. Dozens of people were forcibly removed from the campus, while protesters clung to each other, according to images published by public television NOS.
The police described these images as “intense” and assured that the intervention was necessary to “restore order” on the campus, because, they argued, the protest caused a situation of insecurity “in part because the camps prevented the entry of students.” “emergency services to the scene” if necessary.
The demonstration began yesterday afternoon, when students set up tents on campus and blocked two bridges and the entrance to the university, amid demands that Amsterdam faculties break their ties with Israel due to the humanitarian devastation in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the demonstrations, the university published on its website a list of Israeli institutions with which it collaborates.
Specifically, it has a student exchange program with the University of Tel Aviv, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University, and, in addition, UvA researchers participate in eight European research projects in which Israeli companies or researchers participate. .
“The UvA does not want to contribute to war under any circumstances, nor do we want to participate in exchanges in the field of military-oriented education. As far as we can evaluate, our current collaborations meet this requirement,” the university explained.
(With information from EFE)
