Violent anti-refugee campaigners attacked the town hall and neighbouring theatre in the Utrecht town of IJsselstein on Saturday evening, throwing rocks and fireworks and injuring one police officer.
“What happened this evening is not a protest, it is an attack on our city,” mayor Ester Weststeijn said in a reaction on Sunday morning.
The attack was carried out by several dozen people who gathered at the town hall around 1 am. They first disabled security cameras and when the police arrived began setting off powerful fireworks. They smashed windows and sprayed the building with graffiti. No-one has yet been arrested.
There have been several demonstrations in IJsselstein since the council said it would set up a temporary refugee centre on one of the local football club’s pitches, although earlier protests were peaceful.
Weststeijn described Saturday night’s action as “terror” and said the campaigners were opting for a “totally unacceptable way” of displaying their emotions.
The IJsselstein attacks, coming just days after protesters smashed town hall windows in Loosdrecht, were described by Sharon Dijksma, Utrecht mayor and head of the Dutch local authorities association VNG to make political capital.
No role in democracy
“Violence, aggression and intimidation have no role in a democratic society and have to be tackled,” she said.
Dijksma warned local authorities that they need to understand unease about refugee centres and improve their communication to their residents but said in a social media statement: “There is a sensible middle route between ‘let everyone come here’ and ‘close the borders’.”
This includes faster procedures, a more effective return strategy, a tougher strategy to deal with criminal foreigners and a much improved integration process for those who can stay, she said.
Meanwhile, the Justice for Prosperity foundation has claimed that some agitators in IJsselstein, Loosdrecht and at other protests in Tilburg were carrying banners featuring symbols Identitair Verzet, or IDV, the Dutch branch of a pan-European far-right network whose French parent organization has been banned by the French government as a private militia.
IDV disappeared from the Dutch stage in 2023 but relaunched in March and April with a new Facebook page and internet domain, Justice for Prosperity said.
Calculated campaign
“The banner actions were not spontaneous,” the organisation said. “They were filmed and immediately distributed by Defend members via various private channels. On every occasion, the camera was focused tightly on the logo. Each action was staged for the camera and then propelled out into the world via an existing network.
JfP was set up by Jelle Postma after a 25-year career in the Dutch security services and the UN. He told Buitenhof on Sunday that the growth in the IDV should not be under-estimated.
“The biggest risk is that we start accepting extremist language and activities,” he said. “Some political parties in The Hague are normalising this behaviour. But it is not normal.”
