On Thursday, November 7, clashes broke out in Amsterdam between Israeli football fans attending a UEFA Europa League match and local Dutch youths. Arrests were made and a ban on demonstrations was enforced in the city following violent altercations between supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv club and pro-Palestinian youth.
In Amsterdam, Dutch people of Moroccan origin found themselves accused of instigating the clashes, while Israeli media, as well as Dutch politicians and officials, described the acts as “anti-Semitic.” This version presents Israeli supporters as victims and young people, mainly of Moroccan origin, as culprits.
“Unfortunately, these events were used to portray the situation as if only Moroccans were pursuing Jews,” lamented Dutch-Moroccan journalist Abdelilah Rubio. “The narrative evolved to present the incidents as anti-Semitic attacks against the Jewish community, although this was not the case,” explained the AD journalist.
Contacted by Yabiladi on Monday, Rubio explained that the tension began as soon as “Israeli hooligans set foot in the city.” “They immediately started acting aggressively,” he recalled, referring to the slogans they chanted in the streets, such as “Death to the Arabs” and “there are no more children in Gaza “.
“They tore down Palestinian flags from houses, threatened people and beat a Moroccan taxi driver, among other incidents,” the Hague-based journalist reported. These incidents were documented in videos shared on social media before and after the Ajax Amsterdam – Maccabi Tel Aviv match.
Israeli hooligans victims of anti-Semitic Moroccans?
The aggressive behavior of Israeli football fans “created a very tense and even frightening atmosphere in Amsterdam.” Despite these events and videos of attacks by Israeli hooligans, “few media outlets covered them accurately,” Rubio lamented.
“Instead, the reports simply mentioned that there had been ‘clashes’ between the groups,” he noted. The next day, Thursday, the situation deteriorated. According to him, the aggressive behavior of Israeli fans continued, targeting people with harassment and violence.
“I don’t believe people were attacked because of their Jewish faith. Rather, they were targeted in response to the actions of Israeli hooligans. There have been no reports of attacks targeting Dutch Jews or Jewish institutions or synagogues.”
Abdelilah Rubio
In Israel, the media claimed that the clashes had been initiated by young Dutch people of Moroccan or more broadly Arab origin. Meanwhile, politicians, including Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, have called the attacks “anti-Semitic shock squads.”
On the other hand, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the violent events as “anti-Semitic attacks against Israeli citizens,” in a message on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
“It was concerning how politicians reacted, as if only Jews were targeted,” Rubio lamented. “Israeli fans were portrayed as innocent tourists who were attacked without provocation, which is false. Many Maccabi supporters in Amsterdam provoked the people there, not just the Moroccans but all the residents of the city,” he added.
This presentation was “unfair,” said the Dutch-Moroccan journalist, stressing that “terms like ‘Holocaust’ and ‘Jew hunting’ were used, exaggerating the situation.”
“I do not condone violence against others, but this situation did not emerge out of nowhere. If these hooligans had been Russian or Turkish, the reaction of the media and politicians would have been different,” he noted.
The journalist further explained that on social networks, many eyewitnesses, including Dutch people, protested against this presentation of Dutch-Moroccan youth. “Politicians who openly oppose Muslims and foreigners have called us ‘foreigners’, despite our Dutch nationality and decades of residence in the country. This situation has sparked discussions about new laws targeting people who criticize Israel,” he explained.
To avoid further tensions, the Amsterdam city council imposed a ban on demonstrations. Despite this, a pro-Palestinian demonstration took place in the city on Sunday. More than 50 people were arrested for defying the ban, Dutch police said.
