Tens of thousands of red-covered protesters marched through the Hague on Sunday, demanding government action to stop Israeli campaigning in Gaza.
Organizers call it the country’s biggest demonstration in 20 years, with human rights groups and aid agencies (Amnesty International, saving children and doctors without borders) estimated a peaceful crowd of over 100,000 people.
The city of the Dutch political capital was packed with old, young people and even several babies in the first protest.
“I hope this is a call for government awakening,” teacher Ruth Ringbeek attended the march along with her husband and 12-week-old daughter Dido.
The march passed through the Palace of Peace, the headquarters of the United Nations International Court of Justice. Last year, a judge ordered Israel to do everything they could to prevent the death, destruction and genocide of Gaza.
Protesters walked a five-kilometer loop through the city centre of The Hague, symbolically creating a red line that the government said had not set.
“We are calling for the Dutch government, halting political, economic and military support to Israel, blocking access to subsidized supplies, and committing genocide, war crimes and structural human rights violations in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory.”
Dutch policy against Israel is just one of many problems that create division among the vulnerable coalition government in the Netherlands. Right-right leader Geert Wilders, his anti-immigrant party for freedom is stubbornly pro-Israel and holds the largest number of seats in the Parliament.
In a post on X, Wilders accused the protesters of supporting Hamas and called them “confusing.”
However, last week, Foreign Minister Kasper Beldkamp, a minority central-right VVD party, urged the European Union to consider a trade deal with Israel, claiming that the blockade of humanitarian aid violated international law. The Wilders fought back and denounced the call as “a humiliation to cabinet policy.”
Additional sources •AP
