Amid the growing momentum of climate change protests worldwide, a significant number of individuals in the Netherlands took part in demonstrations in The Hague, blocking a roadway to protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Dutch police reported that over 1,500 supporters of the Extinction Rebellion climate group were arrested on Saturday.
During the protests, police used water cannons to disperse the climate activists. Authorities have detained a total of 1,579 individuals, and 40 of them will face prosecution on charges including vandalism. It was reported that one activist allegedly bit a police officer.
Numerous Dutch celebrities, including Carice van Houten, known for her role as Melisandre in the television series Game of Thrones, participated in the demonstration. Van Houten shared a video on Instagram showing herself being sprayed by a water cannon while wearing a red poncho. Some protesters had umbrellas or wore swimwear as they sat across the A12 motorway, displaying flags and slogans.
The Extinction Rebellion group in The Hague organized seven protests near the parliament and other ministry buildings in the same area of the highway. According to the Dutch news agency ANP, this demonstration resulted in the highest number of arrests to date.
“We’re going to stay here until they drag us away,” said Anne Kerevers, a 31-year-old postgraduate student. She emphasized the urgency of addressing climate change and the need to end government subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
Regarding the arrests, the police stated that activists were given multiple opportunities to end their actions and leave before water cannons were deployed to deter and apprehend them.
Extinction Rebellion is a global environmental movement and activist group that originated in the United Kingdom. Its main objective is to raise awareness about the urgent need to address the climate crisis and ecological collapse. The movement employs non-violent civil disobedience and direct action to exert pressure on governments and corporations, urging them to take immediate and substantial measures to combat climate change. Extinction Rebellion recently participated in protests in Geneva, joining other organizations to demonstrate against Europe’s largest private aircraft sales event. Some protesters briefly disrupted airport operations by gluing themselves to showcase planes on the tarmac.
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