Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Pro-Palestinian activists block Ghent city ring, demanding attention for Gaza. Police clear the traffic axis, arresting around forty demonstrators for administrative reasons.Â
A group of pro-Palestinian activists chained themselves at an intersection of the Ghent city ring. They want attention for the war in Gaza. The police have cleared the traffic axis and about forty demonstrators have been administratively arrested.
What is the purpose of the activists’ demonstration?
“You cannot go to work at the moment, the people in Gaza have nowhere to go,” said the activists. “No normal course of events until Palestine is free,” read the pamphlets that about forty demonstrators handed out on Tuesday at the Sint-Lievenspoort, a busy passage on the Ghent city ring, through which thousands of cars enter Ghent.
How did the police respond to the intersection occupation?
“Around 7 o’clock this morning we received a call that the B401 was occupied, and we were informed by the press,” confirms Clio Van Peteghem, spokesperson for the Ghent police. Traffic was diverted via an earlier exit towards Ledeberg. The traffic jam caused by the action built up considerably, but has now disappeared.
About fifty police officers – both from local Ghent and federal units – arrived on the scene to clear the intersection, after permission from Mayor Mathias De Clercq (Open VLD). “At first we tolerated it for a while, while we made traffic safe by diverting motorists,” says Van Peteghem. The exit was closed when it became clear that some of the demonstrators would not leave voluntarily. It was decided to evacuate around 9 a.m., according to Van Peteghem.
What measures were taken to manage traffic during the protest?
The bicycle chain in front of the activists was first removed. Afterwards, bystanders who did not want to leave voluntarily were administratively arrested. This was followed by about fifteen activists who lay on the ground and held themselves to each other with pipes. A total of forty demonstrators were administratively arrested for disrupting public order, the police confirmed.
Some of the activists are said to be occupying Ghent University, but it is currently unclear exactly how many of them are involved. One of the activists was already wearing a fluorescent vest with the university logo, but he said that was “coincidental”. What is certain is that it is not just students. “We are a mixed bag of activists,” describes a 53-year-old man wearing a fluorescent vest and keffiyeh who is handing out flyers. He does not want to give his name, “because few in Belgium have the same name”.
