The anti-migration demonstration organized on Saturday in the Hague by ‘We are the people’, an obscure organisation without known leadership, deteriorated quickly to violent clashes with police and was widely condemned by the Dutch authorities and media.
“The Hague turns into a shameful spectacle by rioters and hooligans: Hitler salutes, antisemitic slogans, and violence against police,” read the headline in De Telegraaf, the largest daily morning newspaper in the Netherlands.
According to Dutch media, the demonstration gathered about 500 participants, among them many neo-Nazi and extreme-right participants who had travelled to The Hague from other parts of the country. A similar demonstration took place last year when the headquarters of the centrist D66 party – whose leader, Rob Jetten is currently Prime Minister– was also attacked.
The demonstration was originally planned as an anti-asylum and anti-migration protest. Some organisations decided not to participate in it after they found out that flyers would contain racist slogans and Nazi symbols. That left the field open for infiltration by neo-Nazi groups.
The demonstration turned ugly from the very start. A media outlet reported that a truck serving as a stage had a screen displaying the text 'The Netherlands is for the Dutch'. A speaker discussed the far-right theory of population replacement. Demonstrators chanted the slogans 'asylum seeker center, get rid of it', 'whoever doesn't jump is a Jew', and 'Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas'.
The riot police intervened around 13:00 PM after the demonstration turned violent and local authorities had issued an emergency order. At that hour, 200 – 300 demonstrators were rioting. Riot police used water cannons and dogs to dispel them and arrested those who threw fireworks and performed Nazi salutes. Two hours later, around 15:00 PM, the police reported that calm had returned to the city.
With the emergency order, the police had the authority to remove persons who “contributed to disorder” from the area. They arrested 24 individuals for offenses including violence against police, ignoring the emergency order, and illegal weapons possession.
The anti-asylum demonstration turned antisemitic because it was organized by far-right extremists and infiltrated by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, media reported. The Dutch police and the Public Prosecution are conducting further investigations into the antisemitic slogans and gestures committed by some of the extremists and they may be charged for hate speech.
A counter-demonstration, organized under the banner "Against Fascism and for Inclusivity”, gathered only about 30 people at the Spuiplein, a cultural public square in the Hague, well away from the far-right march route. For the time being, no new counter-demonstration has been officially scheduled in the aftermath of the riots.
Prime Minister Rob Jetten wrote on X that the rioters deliberately sought confrontation with the police. “Excessive violence was used against the police, and abhorrent far-right and antisemitic slogans were chanted, accompanied by Nazi salutes. . . We stand firmly in defense of the rule of law and will not allow the right to demonstrate to be abused.”
The Minister of Justice and Security, David van Weel, condemned the “disgusting images” in the demonstration. “It is important that this is dealt with very harshly. Hitler salutes, antisemitic slogans, violence against the police, and throwing fireworks at the riot police."
In a statement, the Dutch Police Union called for the violence against the police in The Hague to “have real consequences and lead to the criminal prosecution of this rioter scum”. The union urged the judiciary “to take forceful action; only in this way can we send a clear signal”.
