'Irony': Dutch court bans pro-Palestine protest after Israeli hooliganism

Dutch police moved in on a group of pro-Palestinian protesters after they staged a demonstration in Amsterdam's city centre after a court order banned protests, an AFP correspondent saw.

Police in riot gear moved in on the protesters who were chanting pro-Palestine slogans and holding up placards at Dam Square on Sunday in the wake of Israeli hooligans targeting Palestinian symbols, stirring tension in Amsterdam.

Dutch judges on Sunday turned down an urgent request for a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam.

A wave of violence erupted late Thursday in Amsterdam when supporters of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv stormed through the city, tearing down Palestinian flags on private property and chanting incendiary slogans, according to reports.

"The Mayor has rightly decided that there will be a ban on demonstrating in the city this weekend," the court announced on X.

It therefore "rejected the protest request by pro-Palestinian activists ," the court said.

The incidents, which took place before and after Maccabi's match against Ajax, have sparked widespread outrage, with reports of Israeli fans clashing with bystanders, vandalising property, and setting a Palestinian flag alight.

Videos shared widely on social media depict Maccabi fans not only vandalising private property but also attacking a local taxi driver and even confronting law enforcement officials.

"Many videos going around of Israeli soccer goons vandalising property in Amsterdam, attacking cops and bystanders, and ripping down Palestinian flags," Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone News, said on Friday.

"Now this fascist infestation is playing the victim and waiting for airlifts back to the colonies."