Amsterdam disbands pro-Palestine protest with signs declaring support for Hamas

People waving Palestinian flags - Credit: - License: DepositPhotos Politics Thursday, 8 October 2026 - 08:05

Mayor Femke Halsema of Amsterdam disbanded a pro-Palestine demonstration on Dam Square on Thursday, in which participants expressed support for Hamas. The demonstration was on the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. The mayor broke up the demonstration after participants refused to follow the set route for their march, NOS reports.

Around 150 people attended the demonstration on Dam Square. Protesters carried banners reading slogans like “we support Hamas” and “glory to our martyrs, victory to the resistance.” They also burned an Israeli flag and chanted “long live the 7th of October.”

The police reviewed the texts on the banners and slogans chanted during the protest, and concluded that the protesters were not violating the law. Mayor Halsema called the Hamas support shown by protesters “shocking and distasteful,” but also noted that no criminal offenses were committed.

An organizer of the protest expressed anger about a legislative proposal that aims to criminalize the glorification of terrorism. If that law were in effect, this protest would have been illegal because the Netherlands considers Hamas a terrorist organization. He told NOS that the Netherlands should view Hamas as a political movement instead.

NOS asked the organizer whether the slogans on the banners were not in poor taste on the day commemorating the Hamas attacks on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed. “In poor taste? I don’t know about that. It is provocative, and I understand why people do it.”

Protesters walked from Dam Square further into the city, trying to head toward a neighborhood with many Jewish buildings. The police prevented that and directed the protesters to the Stopera, Amsterdam’s city hall.

At 8:15 p.m., mayor Halsema disbanded the demonstration because some protesters refused to follow instructions to proceed to the Stopera. The protesters then left the area.