Amsterdam’s police chief, Peter Holla, said there
had been “incidents on both sides”, starting on Wednesday night when Maccabi
fans tore down a Palestinian flag from the facade of a building in the city
centre and shouted “fuck you Palestine”.
Amsterdam
police arrest more than 60 people after attacks on Israeli football fans
Amsterdam
mayor condemns ‘outburst’ of violence as Israeli government flies fans home
Senay Boztas
in Amsterdam, Jason Burke in Jerusalem and Jennifer Rankin
Fri 8 Nov
2024 16.25 GMT
Amsterdam
police have made more than 60 arrests after what authorities called “hateful
antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans.
A plane
carrying football supporters brought home from the Dutch capital by the Israeli
government landed on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport after the clashes on
Thursday, which took place following a Europa League match between Ajax and
Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The mayor of
Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, described an “outburst” of antisemitism with “hit and
run” attacks on the visiting supporters.
“Men on
scooters crisscrossed the city looking for Israeli football fans. It was a hit
and run. I can easily understand that this brings back memories of pogroms,”
Halsema said.
“Our city
has been deeply damaged. Jewish culture has been deeply threatened. This is an
outburst of antisemitism that I hope to never see again.”
The leaders
of Israel and the Netherlands condemned the attacks while a leading Jewish
group said the Dutch capital should be “deeply ashamed”.
Police said
on Friday they had launched “a major investigation into multiple violent
incidents” and that five people had been taken to hospital and 62 arrested.
There was no evidence of “kidnappings or hostage takings” but police were
“probing reports”, they said.
Officials in
Amsterdam said that in several places in the city, supporters were attacked,
abused and pelted with fireworks and that riot police had to intervene several
times to protect Israeli supporters and escort them to hotels.
Residents
and businesses in Amsterdam were shocked by what appeared to be organised small
groups of locals chasing Israeli fans in Amsterdam’s city centre after the
match.
Theodoor van
Boven, who owns the Condomerie, near Dam Square on the Warmoesstraat, said he
saw gangs apparently hunting and chasing opposing fans. “What we saw here in
the street in the evening and at night were groups of often Dutch groups who
were out hunting, who were looking for Maccabi fans. They were on foot in
groups, on scooters, riding round looking, and telephoning each other – it
[seemed to be] organised.”
“They saw
everyone in yellow [Maccabi Tel Aviv’s home-strip colour], they jumped on us,”
a young woman, identified only as Pnina, told the Dutch public broadcaster from
Schipol airport. She said her group had hidden in their hotel “until it was
safe to go outside”.
Ron, another
departing fan, said it had been a “terrible night” and “very scary”.
Amsterdam’s
police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been “incidents on both sides”,
starting on Wednesday night when Maccabi fans tore down a Palestinian flag from
the facade of a building in the city centre and shouted “fuck you Palestine”.
Holla said
Maccabi had vandalised a taxi, which was followed by “an online call” to
mobilise taxi drivers to a casino, where 400 Israeli supporters were present.
Police had safely escorted supporters out of the casino, he said.
A social
media video verified by Reuters showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and
chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs”, referring to the
Israel Defense Forces.
The police
chief said a large crowd of Maccabi supporters had then gathered on Dam Square
on Thursday lunchtime and there had been “fights on both sides”.
Before the
match, police escorted pro-Palestine demonstrators to an agreed protest
location, but said they then split into small groups “looking for
confrontation”.
There were
no reports of trouble during the match at the Johan Cruyff arena, in which Ajax
Amsterdam defeated Maccabi 5-0, and fans left the stadium without incident,
police said.
Serious
violence erupted later in the city centre with hit and run actions targeting
Israeli fans, resulting in a number of “serious assaults”, according to the
police, who said the precise number was still being investigated.
Holla
defended his force from accusations, led by the far-right leader Geert Wilders,
that police had been absent when Jewish fans were being attacked. Holla said he
was shocked by what had happened despite police being “maximally prepared”,
with 800 officers on duty on Thursday night, large by usual standards.
One
Amsterdam resident, Barbara Weenink, said she had found the behaviour of
Israeli fans threatening. Weenink, who has demonstrated at pro-Palestine
events, said she was warned not to go out with a keffiyeh on that evening. She
did not see the events after the match but had seen Israeli football fans
before it. “I saw the Israeli fans walking here before the match – I found it
very threatening,” she said.
The conflict
in Gaza has heightened community tensions across Europe, with soaring
antisemitic abuse and attacks. Islamophobic incidents have also risen to record
levels.
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In a
statement, the office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described
a “planned antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens” and requested that
security be increased for the Dutch Jewish community.
Netanyahu
cancelled plans announced early on Friday to send two military rescue planes to
Amsterdam and officials in Jerusalem said efforts would instead focus on using
commercial airlines, primarily El Al, Israel’s national carrier.
El Al said
on Friday morning that, after special permission from Jewish religious
authorities to operate on the sabbath, a first flight would leave Amsterdam for
Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon and further free flights would continue on
Saturday as necessary.
Netanyahu
also said he had ordered the Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent
unrest at events abroad after the violence in Amsterdam.
The Dutch
prime minister, Dick Schoof, said he was “horrified by the antisemitic attacks
on Israeli civilians”, calling it “completely unacceptable”. He said he had
spoken to Netanyahu by phone “to stress that the perpetrators will be
identified and prosecuted”.
In a social
media post on Friday, Wilders, who leads the far-right Freedom party, the
largest in the Dutch governing coalition, criticised his own government for a
“lack of urgency”. He wrote: “Why is there no extra cabinet meeting? Where is
the sense of urgency?”
Wilders, who
is well known for his anti-Muslim positions and does not have a formal role in
the government, said the Dutch authorities “will be held accountable for their
failure to protect” Israeli citizens.
Leaders of
Dutch Jewish organisations noted the violence had taken place on the evening
the Dutch Jewish community had commemorated Kristallnacht, the 1938
state-sanctioned pogrom and murderous rampage in Nazi Germany and controlled
territories that paved the way for the Holocaust.
Chanan
Hertzberger, the chair of the Central Jewish Consultation, described
“antisemitic gangs who, under the guise of anti-Zionism, have been trying to
make life impossible for Jews in the Netherlands for some time”.
.
The European
Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “outraged” by “vile
attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam”, while Uefa, the governing
body of football in Europe, said it strongly condemned “the incidents and acts
of violence”. The UN called the violence “very troubling” while Germany’s
foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said it was “terrible” and “deeply
shameful.”
In a tweet,
Deborah Lipstadt, the US antisemitism envoy, said she was “deeply disturbed” by
the attacks and called for an investigation.
Ajax
released a brief statement condemning the violence, saying: “After a sporting
football match with a good atmosphere in our stadium – for which we thank all
parties involved for the good cooperation – we were horrified to learn what
happened in the centre of Amsterdam last night.”
Additional
reporting by Jon Henley in Budapest
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