Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Protesters were arrested at Tomorrowland for waving Palestinian flags causing tension with Israeli flag-wavers. Police used force during the arrests leading to online discussion about the incident.
After the flag issue at Tomorrowland some people got arrested by the police. They were treated harshly, with some pushed against a wall and others forced to the ground during the arrests. This caused a lot of online discussion due to the tension between the two groups and the strong police response. After the flag incident some protesters were arrested by the police. They were handled roughly with some pushed against a wall and others forced to the ground during the arrests. This led to a lot of talk and attention online due to the tension between the two groups and the strong police reaction.
What led to the arrests of protesters at Tomorrowland?
The police arrested the protesters because they were causing a disturbance in public. The protest was not planned or allowed beforehand so they didn’t have permission. The activists were shouting slogans like “Free Gaza,” which added to the reasons for their arrest. The police saw their actions as disruptive and had to step in to keep order. The police reaction and clash of national symbols have caused a lot of talk online.
The police tried talking to the protesters first. They asked them to stop waving flags to calm things down but the protesters didn’t listen. Since they didn’t cooperate the police had to arrest them to bring back order. The police tried talking to the protesters to handle the situation calmly but when the protesters didn’t listen or cooperate the police had to take more serious steps. It has been said that how difficult it can be for law enforcement to deal with sudden and unauthorized protests especially in busy public places like the Grote Markt.
The police spokesperson said that the protesters in the demonstration had done similar pro-Palestinian actions before so the police already knew them. This probably affected how the police dealt with the situation since they were familiar with the activists’ past actions. Since the police already knew the protesters they acted fast to talk and prevent things from getting worse. The police’s quick actions were influenced by knowing the activists’ history all to keep order at the busy Grote Markt event.
