AMSTERDAM: Tens of thousands of Dutch protesters marched through Amsterdam on Sunday, calling for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza and demanding their government recognise a Palestinian state.
The mass demonstration added to others held in other European countries over the weekend, including in Italy, Spain and Ireland on Saturday.
The Dutch marchers, numbering around 250,000 according to organisers, yelled “Stop the genocide” and “Free Palestine”.
One protester, Sebastiaan Poos, 68, said he wanted his government to impose sanctions on Israel, “stop trade, and recognise the Palestinian state”.
“I’m deeply ashamed, deeply ashamed for the government, the stance they are taking,“ he said.
The Netherlands has not recognised Palestinian statehood, unlike France, Spain, Ireland, Britain and other European countries.
Its government on Friday won a legal battle to overturn a ruling ordering it to stop exporting F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.
But it has also barred Israel’s hardline finance and national security ministers from entering the Netherlands, declaring they had called for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and incited Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.
The government is split on whether to impose new sanctions on Israel over the way it is conducting its war in Gaza.
The Dutch are due to go to the polls on October 29 in early general elections.
Another protester, a 33-year-old editor who gave only her first name, Suzanne, said Gaza “is a topic that’s on my mind”.
“I hope we can send a message that we do want actions, instead of just words,“ from the country’s ruling politicians, she said. – AFP