AA / Amsterdam / Selman Aksunger
Israeli fan groups are responsible for the violence during the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv UEFA Europa League match in Amsterdam last week, a senior member of an anti-Zionist Jewish collective has said.
In an interview with Anadolu, Anna Joseph, member of the board of directors of Erev Rav, a Jewish collective in the Netherlands, clarified that Israel and Judaism are distinct concepts. She emphasized that Israel is a state that encompasses multiple religions and ethnicities, while “Judaism is a religion. These two things are not the same. And when we confuse them, it puts us all in danger, both Jews and those who defend Palestinian rights.”
Joseph described several disturbing incidents related to the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match. She claimed that Israeli Maccabi fans vandalized property, tore down a Palestinian flag and burned it in a public square. She also said they attacked a taxi driver and sang racist and genocidal chants on public transport.
“Members of the Palestinian community, Muslims and other people of color did not feel safe. This situation was reported to the government, which did nothing to stop it, nor did anything to stop these groups of Israeli football supporters,” she said. added.
Anna Joseph criticized the Dutch government’s response to the violence, noting that it denounced subsequent events as “anti-Semitism.”
“The government has labeled any violence against Israelis as anti-Semitism and compared it to a pogrom. This is not a pogrom,” she said.
And continued: “I don’t think the Dutch police intervened appropriately. “She should have intercepted the Maccabi fans when they were violent at the beginning of the week, so we wouldn’t have seen the escalation at the end of the week.”
**Mainstream media distorts facts
Anna Joseph also said that the mainstream media was misrepresenting events, explaining: “There is a lot of propaganda that strives to portray anything that criticizes Israel as anti-Semitic. This is not Jewish propaganda, it is Zionist propaganda. Zionism is support for Israel.”
While Zionist propaganda attempts to silence criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic, she said, many Jews around the world oppose Israel’s actions and even its existence. as a state.
The voices of these Jews are often ignored or dismissed in dominant narratives that equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. According to Joseph, Jews who opposed the creation of Israel in 1948 are often hidden from history.
Criticizing Israel’s policies does not cancel one’s own Jewish identity, as Israel and Judaism are not synonymous, she added.
According to Anna Joseph, this distinction is essential for understanding the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the broader debate about Israel’s role in the world.
Last Friday in the Netherlands, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans caused chaos by attacking Palestinian supporters before and during a UEFA Europa League match against Ajax Amsterdam.
Israeli fans tore down Palestinian flags flying in the streets of Amsterdam and attacked Arab taxi drivers with sticks, thinking they were supporters of Palestine.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans continued their protests and chants during the minute of silence held before the match in honor of the victims of the floods in Spain. They also chanted anti-Arab and genocidal slogans around the stadium and in the streets.
In total, 63 people were arrested in connection with the events that took place during the meeting.
*Translated from English by Mourad Belhaj
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