Pro-‘Israel’ protestors tear down Palestinian flag in Amsterdam
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Pro-Israel demonstrators in Amsterdam pulled down a large Palestinian flag hung from an H&M store overlooking Dam Square during a pro-‘Israel’ rally on Thursday evening.
Hundreds to around 2,000 supporters gathered for the “Into the Breach for Israel” (or “Standing Up for Israel”) event.
Speakers included SGP party leader Chris Stoffer, Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyamin Jacobs, and organizer Jacques Brunt.
Participants waved ‘Israeli’ flags, sang Hebrew songs, and heard a video message from the ‘Israeli’ ambassador amid heavy rain.
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Authorities had banned a planned pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration on Dam Square due to public order concerns, after the Amsterdam Palestina Coalition lost a court challenge.
The alternative site was Oude Turfmarkt, about 500 meters away.
Despite the ban, dozens of counter-protesters appeared near the square, some spraying slogans in red paint near the national war memorial and chanting phrases including “From the river to the sea” and “Yallah, yallah intifada.”
From a third-floor balcony of the nearby H&M store, activists unfurled a massive Palestinian flag that reached street level and threw flyers onto the crowd below.
Video footage shows pro-‘Israel’ demonstrators quickly grabbing and tearing the flag down as the crowd cheered.
Plainclothes police then entered the building.
Around 45 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested for defying the ban and disrupting the event.
A spokesman for Mayor Femke Halsema cited the risk of disorder if both groups demonstrated in the same location.
Police later surrounded a group of about 30 near the National Monument who had been shouting abuse, including “F**k you Israel,” and transported them away.
H&M denied any role. “H&M was not involved in the actions that took place in our store on Dam Square in Amsterdam,” the company’s media relations team said.
“The expression on the facade of our store was not initiated, organized or approved by H&M.”
