Dutch take to the streets to support Palestinians

Tens of thousands of people dressed in red thronged the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday to denounce ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza, carrying signs reading "Stop the Genocide".

Organisers said some 200,000 people attended the "red line" protest, demanding that the Dutch government take action against Israel.

"Stop sending weapons to Israel," one of the protesters, Steven Eisinger, a 33-year-old robotics engineer originally from the United States, told AFP, wearing a red scarf around his neck.

"I'm Jewish myself, I have family that's actually in Israel, living, and I wanted to really say, look I support Palestine and I'm anti-genocide."

A fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect in October last year, after two years of war triggered by the Islamist militant movement's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

But an acute humanitarian crisis persists in the Gaza Strip, alongside regular Israeli strikes, while settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has intensified.

Unlike other European countries such as France and Belgium, the Netherlands has not recognised the state of Palestine.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten attended a similar protest when he was a parliamentary candidate in 2025. On Friday, he told reporters that it would now be "inappropriate" for him to take part.

At the end of September, the Dutch government brought in a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are deemed illegal under international law.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar revoked the accreditation of Dutch diplomats in response.

The Netherlands has withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, with public broadcaster NPO citing the "sensitive" issue of Israel's participation.