Huge crowds put pressure on the Dutch government to end Israeli campaign in Gaza
The Hague, Netherlands (AP) – Thousands of protesters in red marches through the Dutch capital Sunday, demanding that their government more block Israeli campaign in Gaza, while organizers have called the country's largest demonstrations for two decades.
Human rights groups and aid agencies (including Amnesty International, saving children and doctors without borders) are estimated to have a quiet crowd of more than 100,000 people, and the streets of The Hague are packed with older, younger, and even some babies from the first protests.
“We hope it’s a wake-up call to the government,” teacher Roos Lingbeek attended the parade with her husband and their 12-week-old daughter Dido, her parents waving a sign that she was just carrying: “Stop.”
The march took young families away from the peace palace at the headquarters of the UN International Court of Justice, and last year the judge ordered Israel to do everything possible to prevent death, destruction and genocide in Gaza.
As the protests crossed the courts, canals and the location of the Dutch right-wing government, Israeli forces continued to slam the North Gaza, where they launched new ground operations.
The offensive air strike killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children, into Sunday overnight, hospitals and medical staff said.
Israel’s lockdown on food, medicine and other supplies is now in its third month, with global food security experts warning of more than 2 million people across the territory.
David Prins' Yarmulke was printed in the image of watermelon (sharing the color of the Palestinian flag) told the Associated Press that he was participating in a protest, “anti-abuse.” The 64-year-old was standing across the street from the synagogue where he attended, which overlooked the fields where the demonstration began.
Protesters walked a three-mile (5 km) cycle around the city center of The Hague, symbolically creating a red line they said the government failed to set.
“We are calling on the government to stop political, economic and military support to Israel,” the country continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, Amnesty International’s Marjon Rozema told the Associated Press.
Some people cannot make the trek across the city sit down the route to cheer for the parades. “It’s time for the government to take action,” Aletha Steijns told AP while holding the knee while hurting. She wore camping chairs on the sidewalk with several friends.
The Dutch policy toward Israel is just one of many issues that have led to the division of the Dutch fragile coalition government. Right-wing leader Geert Wilders is firmly in support of Israel, and his anti-immigrant party is the most seats in the country's parliament.
However, last week, Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp's minority VVD party urged the EU to review the trade agreement with Israel, believing its blockade of humanitarian aid violates international law. Wilders fired back, denounced the call as an “insult to cabinet policy.”
