DUTCH COMMENTATOR: I Live Around 30km From Where It Happened. I Don't Have Any Good Word For These People... What A Waste.

Do these people have the right to do this? You be the judge!

Participants are covered with pulp at the Dam square in Amsterdam after joining a tomato fight on September 14, 2014 in to protest the Russian boycot of the European fruit and vegetables. (AFP Photo/ANP)

Full story and more comments after the cut

The Story is that:

In an exotic protest against the sanctions strife between the EU and Russia, hundreds of Dutch pelted each other with around 200,000 forbidden tomatoes in the heart of Amsterdam, not far from the city’s Royal Palace.

Pears and apples also came in handy as farmers in the Netherlands voiced their anger and demanded compensation for the steep drop in sales, after Moscow restricted imports of the EU food products in response to the Brussels-imposed sanctions.

The rally follows a massive drive by some 45 major food growers who registered for EU compensation with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Under the scheme, farmers could sign up for compensation for either having their produce destroyed or given to the Food Bank.

The leftover tomatoes will be cleaned and sent to a biogas production facility.

The Netherlands, the world's second-largest exporter of agricultural products, is set to lose 300 million euro annually from canceled business with Russia , as it accounts for roughly 10 percent of Dutch exports of vegetables, fruit and meat.

To help the farmers, a 125-million-euro EU Commission Common Agricultural Policy fund was established, from which the growers are expected to get some cash, while Amsterdam is willing to cover the cost of transporting excess produce to eight Food Banks across Holland

Another commentator wrote of the tomatoes fight: You are right. These people are immature and there are people in the world who are starving and have nothing to eat. It's even more than a waste: it's criminal. It is also a punishment on the EU for lying about Russia. 

Another commentator wrote: Our government just f*cked us over. This stupid tomato fight brought the farmers a lot of money. They get extra money from the government coz of Russian sanctions(our tax money) + they get money for throwing away excess produced tomatoes(again our money) + all this gets collected for recycling(= €) + It was 15 euro's to enter this food fight. Sum everything up and you got a happy farmer. But many people are dumb and don’t realize this. Holland is great - but sometimes I am ashamed of foreign politics and mindset of some people here...

Another commentator wrote: The Dutch have the 4th & 17th highest HDI & GDP respectively so I don't think it's too far-fetched to think that most of them don't have the experience of being in and living around poverty. When everyone around you is living well, a tomato tossed here, an apple whipper there - no big deal. Empathy gets blurred in the process.