# At least 200,000 march in Amsterdam over Israel, says Amnesty

> Amnesty International says at least 200,000 people marched around the Vondelpark on Sunday, demanding that the Jetten cabinet put maximum pressure on Israel; police could not confirm the number.

Politics · published 2026-11-08 18:24 · https://nlnow.nl/a/organisers-say-200-000-join-amsterdam-israel-policy-protest/

The fourth Rode Lijn (Red Line) demonstration, the second in Amsterdam, began at 13:00 on the Museumplein and ended there after a march around the Vondelpark. Thirteen organisations took part, including Amnesty International, Oxfam Novib and Save the Children. Police arrested four people and said the protest was otherwise calm and orderly.

Amnesty International gave a preliminary estimate of at least 200,000 people, based partly on crowd-control software and aerial camera images, a spokesperson said. Police could not confirm the number. The previous Amsterdam march in October 2025 was estimated at 250,000 people; the first two editions in The Hague drew 100,000 and 150,000.

The organisers want the cabinet of Prime Minister Rob Jetten to apply "maximum political, economic and diplomatic pressure to bring the illegal occupation of Palestine to an end for good". Their demands include economic sanctions, ending military cooperation and protecting international law.

Former PvdA minister Lilianne Ploumen told the crowd that "the continuing violations of international law and of the basic human rights of Palestinians have been normalised". She urged Jetten to act immediately, for example by suspending all military cooperation with Israel. Jetten attended an earlier edition but said it was not appropriate for him to come as prime minister.

Banners reading "We support Hamas" were held up at the demonstration. Mayor Halsema called a similar banner at a 7 October protest "shocking and distasteful" but did not intervene because it was not punishable.

Police arrested four people for failing to show ID, not complying with an order, obstructing police and threatening an officer. Streets around the Museumplein were closed to traffic from 11:30 and trams were rerouted. A truck hit a viaduct, briefly stopping trains between Amsterdam Centraal and Muiderpoort. The protest lasted until just after 17:15.

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