Yeah, the police in the Netherlands are quite good at these types of things.
They have what they call 'Romeos'. They're undercover cops who show up at protests. They usually arrive in white vans, jump out into the crowd and just start beating down peaceful protesters, who sometimes fight back.
Then the media picks up the footage, making it look like the protesters were the ones becoming violent, when in reality they were just defending themselves.
It happened at almost every protest these past 2 years.
Uhuh, as if all violent protesters just jump from white vans...
But people don't see it. They only see what the media wants them to see...

The only thing that I'm not convinced about protests is that it is like asking a bully to please stop bullying you. Better to confront the bully directly.

True. But it's often easier said than done.
But I agree. It doesn't make any sense.
Just like it doesn't make any sense to fight a corrupt system through their own court system.