Tens of thousands of people, many of them dressed in red, marched through Amsterdam in a mass demonstration aimed at pressing the Dutch Government to take more decisive action against Israel over Gaza.
The organisers of “Red Line” demonstrations in the Netherlands called for measures including stricter trade sanctions on Israel, officially declaring that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide and halting all arms sales to Israel.
The Dutch branch of Amnesty International, one of the organisers, said in an online post that more than 200,000 people joined the march.
“What is happening there is inhumane,” Mike van Dongen said as he walked in the huge throng of people. He was critical of the Dutch government’s actions. “As far as I’m concerned, they are doing nothing,” he said. “They don’t dare take any serious steps.” As the protesters marched along a normally busy Amsterdam Street that was closed to traffic on Sunday, a man stood on a bus stop with a loudspeaker shouting, “Free, free Palestine!” Many of the marchers echoes his cry as they passed.
Israel strongly rejects suggestions it is committing genocide in Gaza in its military campaign that followed the attacks by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023. Militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza.