Over 100,000 People In The Hague Marched In Red To Draw A "Red Line" Against Israel's Genocide In Gaza
Tens of thousands of people marched a 5-kilometre loop around the city centre of The Hague, to symbolically create the red line they say the government has failed to set.
In the biggest demonstrations in the Netherlands in more than two decades, more than 100,000 people marched through The Hague wearing red to urge the government to “draw a red line” against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Tens of thousands of people marched on Sunday, May 18, a 5-kilometre loop around the city centre of The Hague, to symbolically create the red line they say the government has failed to set, calling on the Dutch government to take action against Israel’s “violations of International Humanitarian Law” and its aid blockade on Gaza.
The protest, organized by a coalition of human rights groups and aid agencies, including Amnesty International, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam Novib, and others, also passed by the International Court of Justice, where South Africa has brought a case on December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
“We are calling on the Dutch government: stop political, economic and military support to Israel as long as it blocks access to aid supplies and while it is guilty of genocide, war crimes and structural human rights violations in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories,” Marjon Rozema of Amnesty International said, according to Al Jazeera.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 53,475 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and has blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since March 2, saying it will continue the blockade until Hamas releases all hostages.
The Dutch government has refrained from criticizing Israel and the leader of the largest party in the governing coalition, anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders, has repeatedly voiced unwavering support for Israel and its actions in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Israel has finally let five aid trucks enter Gaza on May 19 after more than two months of blockade but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there will be no ceasefire and that plans to intensify military action in Gaza continue, after it launched a new plan to indefinitely occupy the Gaza Strip and forcibly move Palestinians to the south, according to Reuters.
Kassy Cho
Kassy Cho
Cherry Mohamed
