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Some purported videos and images on social media showed people claiming that they are “not Jewish” to save themselves from the mob and injured people who tried “helping the Jews”
Israeli football fans were attacked after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax in Amsterdam on November 7. (Image: X/screen grab)
New videos and images of the violence after a football match in Amsterdam have emerged, with widespread condemnation over what many called “hateful” and “anti-Semitic” clashes. Five people were treated in hospitals and 62 were arrested as a result of the incident, which happened after a Europa League football tie between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
According to the Israel Airports Authority, the Israeli football fans were brought home by the government on two planes, with the first set of evacuees landing on Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent unrest at sporting events in the future.
Some purported videos and images doing the rounds on social media showed people claiming that they are “not Jewish” to save themselves from the mob and injured people who tried “helping the Jews”.
Aaron from London helped an Israeli man who was being beaten up by the Amsterdam mob. He got punched. One of them said: “He’s British, leave him alone.” Another: “Yes, but he helped a Jew.”They were angry because he helped a Jew. This is violent antisemitism.#AmsterdamAttack pic.twitter.com/BnTiEbtWB8
— Heidi Bachram 🎗️ (@HeidiBachram) November 8, 2024
The attacks shattered Amsterdam’s long-cherished view of itself as a beacon of tolerance and haven for persecuted religions, including Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said the city had been “deeply damaged” by “hateful anti-Semitic rioters” who hunted down and attacked Israeli football fans in a night of “unbearable” violence. She described gangs on scooters targeting fans of the Israeli club, beating and kicking them in “hit-and-run” assaults, leaving five people hospitalised.
“I can easily understand that this brings back memories of pogroms,” Halsema said, adding that she was “ashamed” of the violence. “Our city has been deeply damaged. Jewish culture has been deeply threatened. This is an outburst of anti-Semitism that I hope to never see again.”
Many internet users called the clashes the “Amsterdam pogrom” and “normalising antisemitism” amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Palestine after the October 7 attacks.
I’m so disgusted by what I just witnessed. In Amsterdam, Israelis & Jews leaving a soccer match were beaten unconscious by mobs, thrown in the river, and forced to say “free Palestine.” This is the direct result of normalizing antisemitism post Oct. 7, where the most flagrant… pic.twitter.com/NslFO5Kmje— Elica Le Bon الیکا ل بن (@elicalebon) November 8, 2024
Halsema further said despite a “sporting” atmosphere in the football ground and a massive police presence, authorities were unable to stop the rapid attacks on fans in several parts of the city. The Dutch police said it arrested 62 people in total but the hit-and-run tactics of the rioters made it “exceptionally” difficult to prevent the attacks.
The police said 800 officers had been deployed, a very large number for Amsterdam, adding: “We spent weeks preparing.” Tensions were already running high, with “incidents on both sides” on Wednesday, 24 hours before the match.
Maccabi supporters had “removed a flag from a facade on the Rokin and they destroyed a taxi”, the police said. “A Palestinian flag was set on fire on the Dam,” officials added.
There were also other unverified videos on social media, which appeared to show some Maccabi fans chanting in Hebrew: “Finish the Arabs! We’re going to win!”
‘Shocking Images’
Israeli authorities urged their citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotels and avoid showing Israeli or Jewish symbols if they went outside. President Isaac Herzog condemned the clashes and said the “shocking images” of a “pogrom” were reminiscent of last year’s Hamas attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam,” Herzog said on X.
We are deeply alarmed and unequivocally condemn the antisemitic attacks against Jewish football fans in Amsterdam on Thursday evening. These abhorrent acts, which resulted in multiple injuries, are a stark reminder of the ongoing threat faced by Jewish people worldwide, even in… pic.twitter.com/suBnzno3zF— Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (@HMD_UK) November 8, 2024
The Israeli military said it had banned all its personnel from travelling to the Netherlands until further notice. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof denounced the “terrible anti-Semitic attack”. “We will not tolerate (it). We will prosecute the perpetrators. And I’m deeply ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands in 2024,” he said on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ meeting in Budapest.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “outraged” by “vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam”. “Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred,” she added.
Tensions had been mounting in the Dutch capital over Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, even before the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Amsterdam authorities banned a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium.
After the mob attacks, police said security will be beefed up at Jewish institutions in the city that has a large Jewish community. It was home to Jewish World War II diarist Anne Frank and her family as they hid from Nazi occupiers.
(With agency inputs)
- Location :
Amsterdam, Netherlands
