As you may have heard, the pro-Palestinian encampments which have spread across the US have now also spread to at least a dozen campuses in Europe. One of the largest has been at the University of Amsterdam. Some instances of violence against Jewish students quickly made news.
BREAKING:
Anti-Israel students & activists armed with sticks attacked Jewish students at the University of Amsterdam.
The Jewish students has dared to express their disapproval against the occupation of campus
Security watched on during the attack
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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 6, 2024
The encampment was endorsed by Samidoun, a group designated a terrorist organization in Israel.
On Monday, the encampment received an honorary endorsement from Samidoun, designated by Israel as a terrorist organization for serving as a proxy of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).PFLP itself is designated as a terrorist organization according to the European Union, yet its tributary Samidoun is allowed to act freely across the continent, apart from in Germany, which banned Samidoun in October 2023 following years of German authorities monitoring its inflammatory, terror-supporting activities.
Tuesday riot police were called in to clear out the camp. Police used bulldozers and quickly cleared the barricades.
Amsterdam. pic.twitter.com/WKN3nGUbQm
— RadioGenova (@RadioGenova) May 7, 2024
BREAKING:
Dutch riot police storming the anti-Israel students and activists in the “Liberated Zone” at the University of Amsterdam.
Students complain about “police brutality” as the both batons and shields are used by the police to disperse the mob
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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 8, 2024
More than 120 people were arrested.
Police forcibly broke up a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel encampment at the University of Amsterdam on Tuesday, arresting more than 120 and dismantling barricades erected by protesters inspired by similar demonstrations on campuses around the world.
Images on public broadcaster NOS showed police baton-charging protesters and smashing up tents at around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) after they refused to leave the campus.
“The demonstration took on a violent nature because later in the evening massive stones were removed from the ground,” police said in a statement.
You can see in this image that they pulled up bricks form the street and piled them up as part of their barricade.
Pro-Palestine protestors in Amsterdam have built street barricades pic.twitter.com/X8Q0V1UkTk
— Déaglán | دكلن (@PresidentIRE) May 8, 2024
Protesters rebuilt the camp overnight and so on Wednesday the police returned.
In sometimes violent confrontations, police broke up a protest by pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Amsterdam Wednesday in a second straight day of unrest over the war in Gaza.
After police ended a blockade on university grounds, hundreds of demonstrators moved to a nearby square to continue protesting late into the evening, demanding an end to the war. Some asked the university to sever academic relations with Israel.
Police accused protesters of throwing gas cannisters at them.
Police in Amsterdam warned people to avoid a canal and thoroughfare in the city’s center as an effort to remove a pro-Palestinian encampment there turned violent on Wednesday.
Rioters tossed ammonia, an irritant that could cause permanent sight damage, at police moving into the encampment, Amsterdam’s police said Wednesday in a tweet, adding, “Police call on everyone to go home. We are acting to stop this violence.”
This particular protester didn’t accomplish much except getting himself wet.
A Dutch anti-Israel protester tries to stop a police bulldozer from tearing down a barricade built by his rioter friends in Amsterdam.
As a police officer moves in to arrest him, he escapes by jumping into the canal.
Riots all day in Amsterdam today
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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 8, 2024
It’s not clear if the protesters have given up on the encampment yet. But as mentioned above this is just one of many encampments that have been set up this week. There as here, university administrators are saying no.
In recent days, students have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
In Berlin, protesters put up about 20 tents and formed a human chain around them. Most covered their faces with medical masks and draped keffiyeh scarves around their heads, shouting slogans such as “Viva, viva Palestina.”…
“An occupation is not acceptable on the FU Berlin campus,” university president Guenter Ziegler said. “We are available for academic dialogue — but not in this way.”
Just one more bad idea Europe has imported from US campuses.