Riot gangs on scooters attacked and assaulted Israeli soccer fans overnight in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, in what authorities called anti-Semitic violence.
Videos circulating on social media show supporters of soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv being chased and assaulted on Thursday night, with one footage localized by NBC News near Amsterdam Central Station. showed fighting between Israelis and assailants in the street.
“Boys on scooters crisscrossed the city in search of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters,” said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. “It was a hit and run. Football fans were hit and scared. The mob then quickly left again, fleeing from the police who were moving in large numbers yesterday.”
Another video geolocated by NBC News shows Israeli fans mocking pro-Palestinian protesters by chanting “Death to the Arabs” and “Let the IDF win” before and after Thursday’s game. The situation was visible. We’re going to fuck the Arabs,” he said, tearing up a Palestinian flag.
The Gaza war, sparked by a Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, has sparked outrage across Europe, including the Netherlands.
Amsterdam, like many major cities around the world, has been roiled by mass protests denouncing Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, the deaths of more than 43,000 Palestinians and the destruction of much of the enclave. .
As images of violence unfolding in Holocaust heroine Anne Frank’s homeland spread, Israel has sent a commercial plane to bring fans home.
“Yesterday there was an outburst of anti-Semitism in Amsterdam that I had hoped would never occur again. I express my strongest condemnation of the violence that took place,” Halsema said. . There is fear, disappointment, anger, and mistrust among Amsterdam’s Jewish population. ”
Fighting broke out after the match between the Israeli team and Dutch club Ajax. It is unclear to what extent soccer hooliganism and fighting between fans of rival clubs have been occurring around the world for years, but contributed to the latest violence.
Halsema’s office said in a statement that “rioters” were “actively seeking out and attacking Israeli supporters.”
At a press conference on Friday, Halsema said the city had taken emergency measures to prevent further violence, including banning all demonstrations for three days.
Police said five people required hospital treatment, 20 to 30 others suffered minor injuries, and at least 62 people were arrested.
Witness describes attack
Ido Gold, 23, told NBC News in a video call Friday that he and other Maccabi fans took a train to Amsterdam city center after the game. He said they were ambushed when they arrived.
“Everyone ran down the street,” Gold said. “They tried to attack us with whatever they saw in the city.”
Mr Gold said he was chased by assailants on motorcycles, some of whom were armed with knives. He said they fled to a hotel but had fellow fans stay over because they were afraid to go back outside.
As night fell, Gold said he was still “too scared to go out on the town.”
A video shared by the Israeli embassy in Washington, which has not been independently verified by NBC News, shows a man being beaten as the assailant yells, “This is for the children!” Liberate Palestine now! ”
Tebel Karo, 18, said he and a friend had already returned to their hotel when they started receiving messages from other Maccabi fans about what was happening outside.
On Friday, Caro said he and dozens of other Israelis had taken refuge in a safe home, worried about how they would get back home.
Mr. Caro said he would soon complete his mandatory military service in Israel and said he was disappointed that Israel did not field military aircraft in addition to the El Al airliner.
“I was very lonely,” Caro said. “I’m supposed to be deployed in two weeks and no one seems to care about me.”
Ajax’s team has historically drawn fans from Amsterdam’s large Jewish community. The conflict between Israelis and pro-Palestinians seemed to be more about Gaza than soccer.
Amsterdam’s acting police chief, Peter Hora, said at a press conference on Friday that tensions had been simmering between Israeli fans and local Palestinian supporters before the game.
Hundreds of additional police officers have been sent to Amsterdam as a precaution, Horace said.
Hora said some Israeli fans attacked taxis and Palestinian flags on Wednesday, further escalating tensions.
Hora said there were clashes between Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian demonstrators before the match, and police had trouble separating the two groups.
World leaders condemn violence
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schauff said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks against the Israeli people.”
He described the violence as “totally unacceptable” and said he spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “stressed that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.”
Other European leaders echoed similar sentiments, with German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock calling the images coming out of Amsterdam “horrifying and deeply embarrassing for us in Europe” in a post on X. Ta.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was briefed in the Foreign Ministry’s Situation Room on Friday.
In comments shared by the prime minister’s office, Israel said “this is unacceptable” and that the violence “endangers us and them, the free nations and the Netherlands.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident almost exactly 86 years ago on November 9, 1938, when Nazi mobs launched a pogrom in Germany, destroying Jewish-owned homes, synagogues and shops. ”, which he likened to “The Night of Broken Glass.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke directly with King Willem-Alexander about the “anti-Semitic pogrom” in Amsterdam, the Dutch royal family said. Expressing shock, the king said: “History teaches us that blackmail goes from bad to worse, leading to dire consequences.”
“Jews must feel safe in the Netherlands,” the king said.
U.S. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism, condemned the incident, saying it was “severely reminiscent of a classic pogrom.”
Mr Lipstadt also said: “I am deeply disturbed by how long the reported attacks have lasted and call on the government to intervene with security forces and conduct a thorough investigation into how these dastardly attacks took place.” I asked for it,” he said.
European football governing body UEFA on Friday condemned the violence and said it trusted authorities to “identify and prosecute as far as possible those responsible for such acts.”
UEFA said in a statement that it plans to “scrutinize all official reports, collect available evidence, evaluate them and assess further appropriate courses of action in accordance with the relevant regulatory framework.”
The escalation of war in the Middle East has sparked protests around the world, including at sporting events. A giant “Free Palestine” banner was unveiled at a Paris Saint-Germain match on Wednesday, drawing criticism from France’s interior minister. The Israeli national team is scheduled to play France in Paris on November 14th.
