Mayor Sharon Dijksma was caught in pushing and shoving between security guards and pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Utrecht City Hall on Thursday evening. “Blows were struck and I was in the middle of it,” she told RTV Utrecht. The protesters prevented her from entering.
The Utrecht city council discussed a so-called ‘citizens’ motion’ on boycotting Israeli products and organizations on Thursday evening. Many pro-Palestinian demonstrators were in the public gallery to follow the meeting, reports Binnenlands Bestuur.
When the motion was voted down, some of the protesters stirred. This group refused to leave the council chamber. Dijksma then tried to personally convince them to leave. She also escorted some demonstrators outside. “I acted instinctively,” the mayor told RTV Utrecht. “If I have to let the police do that, it will be a lot less gentle.”
According to Dijksma, the protesters were “incredibly angry and quite aggressive, also towards me as a person”. At the same time, she said she felt it was important that the demonstrators did not stay in the town hall. “If you disrupt a council meeting and the police have to intervene, there is a high penalty for that,” the mayor continued.
Once outside, Dijksma was taken into a car by her security personnel. Pushing and pulling had arisen when protesters wanted to prevent the mayor from going back inside. “Blows were struck and I was in the middle of it,” Dijksma said. The mayor was able to re-enter the council chamber through the back entrance of the town hall.