The pro-Palestinian tent camp at Harmonie square plein is being cleared up on Wednesday evening. Dozens of police officers arrived at the square on Oude Kijk in ’t Jatstraat around 9.30 p.m.
The protesters were warned by outsiders who brought them pizza that there was a significant police presence at Vismarkt. Based on this information, they decided to leave the camp.
Officers searched the camp for people in the dozens of tents, but there was no one left. According to Hans Coenraads, spokesperson for Groningen mayor Koen Schuiling, the police did not find anyone in the camp.
‘Since there are no more protesters, we consider the demonstration to be over’, said Coenraads. ‘Now we are going to clean up the square.’
The square was cordoned off so that outsiders could not see what was happening. Municipal garbage trucks drove to the square to remove all the belongings left there.
For the protesters, today’s action was going to be the last one anyway. Their plan was to clear the camp on Wednesday evening or Thursday after the action.
This is evident from WhatsApp conversations seen by UKrant, in which camp organisers were discussing their plans. The messages indicated that the camp would be dismantled for now and that any future actions would be up to the students.
Municipal services, under the watchful eye of a handful of policemen, were busy cleaning up the square until almost midnight.
Reporting by Giulia Fabrizi, Ingrid Stefan and Rob Siebelink.