During the night from Thursday to Friday, supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team, who came to watch their team’s match against Ajax Amsterdam, were violently attacked in the streets of the city, in a context of violence between Israeli supporters and pro-Palestinian groups.
In several neighborhoods of the Dutch capital, individuals attacked Maccabi supporters before fleeing on scooters. Videos authenticated by Agence France-Presse (AFP) show groups stalking Israeli supporters, throwing objects at them, beating them and mistreating them.
Local authorities reported 63 arrests while around twenty Maccabi supporters were injured. The authorities also denied the rumors of kidnappings and disappearances which quickly circulated. Among the individuals arrested, around forty were arrested for disturbing public order. They were fined and released, according to the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced a “terrible accident”, and Israel organized emergency flights to repatriate its nationals.
For her part, the city’s environmentalist mayor, Femke Halsema, spoke of a “dark night” and denounced an “explosion of anti-Semitism”. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had to cancel his trip to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP29, which began this week in Baku, Azerbaijan.
International reactions
In a context marked by the rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli acts around the world since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, this violence has provoked numerous reactions within the international community.
US President Joe Biden described these “anti-Semitic attacks” as “abject”. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke of “a dark moment for our world”, while his counterpart in Quebec, François Legault, condemned “unacceptable and revolting” anti-Semitic acts.
In France, the president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on
As for the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, he said he was “shocked” by this violence, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, having denounced “despicable attacks”.
Tensions from Wednesday
The day before the match, incidents had already broken out in certain neighborhoods, and a pro-Palestinian rally, initially planned near the Johan-Cruyff stadium where the match took place, had been moved a little further away by the town hall for security reasons.
“The violence had already started on Wednesday evening between supporters. It was a night with incidents on both sides. Maccabi supporters removed a flag from a facade of the Rokin [l’une des principales artères du centre-ville d’Amsterdam] and destroyed a taxi. A Palestinian flag was set on fire,” said Peter Holla, the police chief in Amsterdam.
The videos that everyday The World was able to identify indeed show a man tearing a Palestinian flag from a facade, while a group of people shout “ Fuck you, Palestine “. On another, we hear chants from Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters: “Let the IDF win to finish off the Arabs. »
Another Associated Press video shows dozens of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans, shaking their fists and using the acronym for the Israeli army as they walk toward the stadium, escorted by police.
Several chants glorifying the Israeli army and against the Palestinians were also reportedly sung by supporters with words such as: “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no more children. »
Note that the match took place in a generally calm atmosphere, even if some Israeli supporters did not respect the minute of silence in memory of the victims of the floods in Spain, a country which recently recognized the State of Palestine .
The history of Maccabi ultras
Close to the Israeli far right, the ultra group of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters has already been accused in the past of violence and racist chants.
In 2014, for example, a group of supporters shouted racist insults towards Mahran Radi, an Arab-Israeli who then played for the club. Graffiti had also been painted in the Tel Aviv region: “We don’t want Arabs at Maccabi! »
In 2015, they distinguished themselves by opposing an initiative aimed at donating part of the team’s income to help Syrian refugees. They had unfurled a banner “ Refugees not welcome » (Refugees are not welcome).
More recently, last March, some of the team’s supporters beat a Palestinian in Athens, Greece, before their match against Olympiakos.
In January 2023, Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters were also expelled from a volleyball match (Maccabi is a multi-sport club) for disrupting the game against the Cypriot team Omonia VC, ignoring the referees’ warnings. and the Israeli sports minister.
With Agence France-Presse
