Why Did the Protests Against COVID-19 Restrictions Turn Violent in the Netherlands?

Protests erupted in several Dutch cities after the government’s announcement of new restrictions imposed in order to combat Covid-19. The protests turned into violence and vandalism, which made the Dutch police shoot the demonstrators. Questions arise about why did the demonstrations turn from peaceful marches expressing rejection of restrictions to violent practices described as criminal actions?

For his part, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the unrest that sparked on Monday 22 November by anti-Covid-19 protests that have been going on for three days, describing it as "pure violence" carried out by "idiots" while vowing to prosecute those responsible.

He told Dutch media that the riots in several cities across the country since Friday were "pure violence under the guise of protest."

Demonstrators set off fireworks of violence and vandalized property in the northern cities of Groningen and Lievarden, as well as the city of Enschede in the east and Tilburg in the south.

 

Violent Protests

"Small groups are destroying everything downtown," a Groningen police spokeswoman told France Press, adding that "riot police are deployed in the city center to restore order."

"The authorities have ordered people in Enschede, near the German border, to stay off the streets," the police said on Twitter, adding that "five people were arrested in the city center on charges of incitement and violence in a public place."

The violent protests began last Friday when a demonstration against Corona restrictions in the city of Rotterdam turned into a large-scale riot.

The conflict between the protesters and the police was harmful to both sides in the city of The Hague. While demonstrators threw fireworks and stones at police and burned scooters, police fired, wounding 4 people.

It is necessary to mention also that the police arrested more than 100 people across the country, while at least 12 people were injured during the 3 nights of unrest.

Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus condemned the events by saying in a statement: "The riots and extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see."

"Protesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. It has nothing to do with demonstrating," he added.

 

Strict Restrictions

Jack, a Dutch self-employed seller in Leiden’s weekly market, said to Al-Estiklal: “The period of Covid strict restrictions was one of the most prolonged and strict in Europe.”

He added: “We were deeply affected financially and psychologically by the restrictions. Yet, this could never be an excuse for violence. Although the lockdown circumstances prevented us from our business activities, the government implemented measures to protect our jobs and livelihoods and to minimize the impact on self-employed people, small and medium-sized enterprises.”

As the first such measure in Western Europe since the summer, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Friday 19 November, a new partial closure in the country for a period of three weeks, according to which bars and restaurants stop working early, while sporting events are held without an audience.

Under the closure, the authorities will urge citizens to work from home as much as possible, and the masses will not be allowed to attend sporting events.

New Coronavirus infections increased rapidly in the country of 17.5 million people after the lifting of social distancing measures in late September and reached a record level of about 16,300 cases on 16 November.

Jack concluded: "I understand people protesting against the new partial lockdown, but I definitely condemn the destructive violence. The Netherlands has always been a country where you can disagree with things that happen, but violence is never, never, the solution."

 

Crowd Effect

Ghita el-Ghiyati researcher in Psychology at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul told Al-Estiklal that, “it is not surprising for the demonstrations in the Netherlands, and in other parts of the world to start peacefully and to end up violent. In psychology, we use specific terms and concepts such as the crowd effect and anonymity effect to refer to the circumstances that push members of a crowd to act aggressively.”

In fact, the crowd behavior is heavily influenced by the loss of responsibility of the individual and the impression of the universality of behavior, both of which increase with crowd size.

Ghita pointed out: “This is not to say that the protests and demonstrations generally turn violent. On the other hand, protesting peacefully to claim one’s right is one of the ultimate rights that the fair law in democratic countries guarantees to all citizens. Yet, the point that needs to be emphasized is when the anonymity conditions are set such as masks wearing and night as a time for the protest, the likelihood of the violence to prevail is high. Because the sense of accountability among the crowd members decreases. Thus, the crowd behavior guides the individual one.”

Frustration Across Europe

Protests in the Netherlands are part of the protest wave occurring in numerous other countries across Europe in recent days.

In Belgium, estimations suggest that around 35,000 people gathered for a protest on Sunday in Brussels. Events turned dramatic when protestors started throwing objects at officers and police resorting to using water cannons and tear gas on the crowd.

Moreover, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in the Austrian capital Vienna after the government announced a new national lockdown and plans to make vaccination mandatory by next February.

The country will enter a comprehensive 20-day lockdown from Monday. All but essential stores will be closed, and people will be required to work from home.

Thousands demonstrated in Croatia, in the capital, Zagreb, to express their anger at the obligation of public sector employees to take the vaccine.

Several thousand protesters rallied in Italy, rejecting vaccination certificates required in workplaces, public transport, and other locations.

Many governments across Europe are imposing new restrictions, in an attempt to tackle the rising infection while protests against those restrictions are wide-spreading as well.

The World Health Organization said it was "deeply concerned" by the rise in coronavirus cases in Europe.

WHO regional director Dr. Hans Kluge told the BBC that unless measures are tightened across Europe, another half a million deaths could be recorded by next spring.

 

 

NB: Jack is a nickname for the Dutch interviewee who requested anonymity