 "Did Israeli football fans instigate the violence that broke out after a match in Amsterdam?")
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a message for its football-loving citizens. Don’t attend Thursday’s France-Israel football game in Paris, in the wake of the violence that unfolded last Thursday in Amsterdam, following a match between local side Ajax and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“In the last few days, various calls have been identified among pro-Palestinians/supporters of terror groups to harm Israelis and Jews, under the cover of protests and demonstrations, and while taking advantage of mass attendance [of sports and cultural events] to maximise harm and media exposure,” a statement from the National Security Council said.
It added that Israelis should “completely avoid games/cultural events that have Israeli participation for the next week.”
But what exactly happened last week? What led to the violence in Amsterdam, which resulted in at least 10 being injured and over 60 others being detained.
What happened after Ajax vs Maccabi Tel Aviv football game?
Last Thursday (November 7) was the Europa League match between Dutch giants Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, which the hosts won 5-0.
Following the match, Israeli football fans claim they were attacked by groups of young men in Amsterdam , with some left with injuries including broken noses. AFP reports that groups of men on scooters engaged in “hit-and-run” attacks on Maccabi fans in areas of the city.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said, “This is an outburst of anti-Semitism that I hope to never see again,” adding that she was “ashamed” by the violence.
Social media videos verified by AFP showed groups chasing Maccabi supporters, hurling objects, beating and abusing them.
Quite a few were injured during the violence, which Halsema said had “deeply damaged” the city.
Recounting the violence, 24-year-old Adi Reuben said to BBC that he was kicked on the ground and had his nose broken when he and his friends were confronted by a group of over 10 men while walking back to their hotel. The men asked Reuben, as per the BBC report, where he and his friends were from. “They shouted ‘Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF’,” he said, referring to the Israeli military.
Another speaking to the BBC said that he was asked for his passport before he was attacked. Gal Binyanmin Tshuva, 29, said, “We faced around 20 people who ran towards us. They asked me where I was from, and I said I was from Greece. They said they didn’t believe me and they asked to see my passport.”
He said that he didn’t have it and was then pushed to the ground and kicked in the face. “I don’t remember anything after that, and I woke up in an ambulance with blood all over my face, and realised they had broken two of my teeth.”
Ofek Ziv, from the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, told AP someone threw a rock at his head, causing light bleeding, as he and a friend left the stadium. He said a group of men began to chase him, before he and his friend got into a taxi, picked up other fans and took shelter at a hotel.
The incident in Amsterdam drew widespread condemnation with Israel President Isaac Herzog saying the “shocking images” of a “pogrom” were reminiscent of the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he “views the horrifying incident with utmost gravity.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “vigorous and swift action” against those involved.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the violence and flew home early from a European Union summit in Hungary. US President Joe Biden also condemned the attack, calling the incident “despicable.”
“The anti-semitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam are despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted,” Biden wrote in a statement shared on social platform X.
Following the incident, 62 were detained, including two minors. Notably, these came from before and during the game, rather than during the “hit-and-run” attacks, said prosecutor spokesman Evert Boestra.
What led to the violence?
The attack on the Israel football fans wasn’t a sudden outpouring of anger and follows tensions that began brewing days before between the fans and pro-Palestinian activists along with other people in the city.
Investigations and video footage suggest that tensions began on Wednesday, a day before the football match. Sheher Khan, a prominent Muslim member of the City Council told New York Times that a Muslim taxi driver’s car was attacked as he sat inside it. A video shows a man hitting the car with an object.
Many civic leaders in Amsterdam also say that the Israeli fans stoked violence by chanting racist slogans. There are also videos that show the Maccabi fans tearing down a Palestinian flag from a residential building somewhere in the city.
One video shows two men, dressed in tracksuits, lifting a third man so he can remove the flag from the window, as someone can be heard shouting encouragement in the background.
Nassredin Taibi, a 22-year-old student, told the New York Times, “Way ahead of the match, I received messages on my X account that Maccabi hooligans were misbehaving in Amsterdam’s city centre, chanting and tearing down the Palestinian flag.
After this, according to the Amsterdam police, a call went out to taxi drivers to mobilise, which led them to gather outside the casino where the Maccabi fans were staying.
Later, on the day of the match, video footage shared on social media and verified by Reuters shows Maccabi supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans in front of the National Monument on Amsterdam’s central Dam square, including “F**k you Palestine”.
Other footage shows them waving Israeli flags, expressing support for the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and tearing down Palestinian flags, reports the Tehran Times.
Councilman Jazie Veldhuyzen was quoted as telling Al Jazeera, “They began attacking houses of people in Amsterdam with Palestinian flags, so that’s actually where the violence started.”
He added, “As a reaction, Amsterdammers mobilised themselves and countered the attacks by the Maccabi hooligans.”
Later, the game itself passed off largely in a peaceful atmosphere. However, Israeli fans reportedly booed during the minute’s silence for victims of the floods in Spain , which in May recognised the State of Palestine.
It was after the match that all hell broke loose with groups attacking Israelis, kicking victims after they had fallen and throwing fireworks. Dutch news site Bender published a video of a large group of Maccabi supporters arming themselves with sticks, pipes and rocks and twice clashing with opponents when they marched into the city after the match.
What next?
After the violence, Israeli officials organised flights to bring the Maccabi fans home. Meanwhile, the Dutch police made arrests in connection to the violence.
On Sunday (November 10), the Dutch police made more arrests as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital city’s Dam Square, despite a ban on any sort of gathering. The protesters denounced the Israelis who attended the football game.
Protest organisers said in an Instagram message that they were outraged by the “framing” of the riots as anti-Semitic and called the protest ban draconian. “We refuse to let the charge of antisemitism be weaponised to suppress Palestinian resistance.”
Meanwhile, Paris police said that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for a France-Israel football match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation. France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron will attend, the Elysee presidential palace said.
With inputs from agencies
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