‘We support Hamas’ banners displayed at mass anti-Israel rally in Amsterdam

Large crowds marched against Israel in Amsterdam on Sunday, including several masked demonstrators who set off smoke flares and held banners reading “We support Hamas,” the Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported.

Co-organizer Amnesty International said more than 200,000 people took part in the “Red Line” protest. It was the fourth such mass rally in the Netherlands since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Police arrested four people for “minor incidents,” according to De Telegraaf.

Speakers, including former Labor Party leader Lilianne Ploumen, called on the Dutch government to take tougher measures against Israel and suspend military cooperation with Jerusalem.

Organizers also demanded stricter trade sanctions, a halt to all arms sales to Israel and an official Dutch declaration that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, the Associated Press reported.

Marchers chanted “The Netherlands finances, Israel bombs.” Signs read “Zionism is fascism” and several invoked Anne Frank, asking: “Who will explain it to Anne?”

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who participated in a similar march last year but did not attend Sunday’s rally, defended his government’s approach at a press conference on Friday.

He said the government was “exerting greater political and diplomatic pressure” on Israel to honor its agreements on Gaza, while also increasing pressure on Hamas and other organizations carrying out “various operations that endanger the safety of ordinary Israelis,” according to AP.

The Dutch government has already introduced a ban on imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, triggering a diplomatic dispute with Jerusalem.

Dutch-Palestinian activist Amin Abu Rashid also took part in Sunday’s demonstration. In May, he was acquitted of charges that he funneled millions of euros to Hamas. He received a six-month suspended sentence for violating sanctions rules and continuing to run a banned foundation linked to Hamas.