By Anthony Deutsch
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Riot police in Amsterdam began breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest on Sunday after a court upheld a ban on demonstrations following clashes this week involving Israeli soccer fans.
Hundreds of demonstrators defied the prohibition to gather in the Dutch capital’s Dam square, chanting demands for an end to violence in Gaza and “Free Palestine.”
But after a local court ratified the city authorities’ ban, police moved in, instructing protesters to leave. Several people were dragged away by police, a Reuters journalist saw.
The three-day ban was imposed from Friday after attacks on Israeli soccer supporters following a soccer match on Thursday between visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.
At least five people were injured early on Friday, as Israeli fans were assaulted by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “antisemitic hit-and-run squads”.
Prosecutors said late on Saturday that four suspects remained detained on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors, and that 40 people had been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offences including vandalism.
They added that they expected to make more arrests.
A large group of Maccabi supporters was seen in a video posted online by news site Bender arming themselves with sticks, pipes and rocks and twice clashing with opponents when they marched into the city after the match.
The video was not verified by Reuters.
Local police chief Olivier Dutilh told the court on Sunday that the ban was still needed as antisemitic incidents were also reported on Saturday night, local TV station AT5 reported.
Dutilh told the court that people had been pushed out of taxis and intimidated by others who asked to see their passports on the streets. Reuters was unable to verify the incidents.
The Netherlands has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents since the Gaza war began in October last year.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, Bart Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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