AA / Amsterdam / Selman Aksünger
Discontent prevails within Dutch security institutions after an Israeli attempt to interfere in the domestic politics of the Netherlands, the Amsterdam daily ”de Volkskrant” reported.
The third daily newspaper in the Netherlands, after ”De Telegraaf” and ”Algemeen Dagblad”, reported that the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Relations and the Fight against Anti-Semitism had sent a ”report special” to Dutch MPs before the holding of a plenary of Parliament concerning the violence provoked by Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters in Amsterdam.
The Israeli report emphasizes that the Dutch groups that took part in the aforementioned events “were linked to the Hamas movement.”
The daily ”de Volkskrant”, citing senior security sources, reports that ”Israeli interference in Dutch domestic politics was an undesirable situation”.
Two senior sources said on condition of anonymity that the Israeli report was “a source of concern at the highest levels of security ministries.”
”de Volkskrant” reported that the spokesperson for the Dutch Interior Ministry refused to answer questions related to Israeli interference, while the spokesperson for the National Countermeasures Coordination Agency Terrorism and Security said he had read the Israeli report but was refraining for the moment from commenting on its content.
The Amsterdam daily quoted a security expert from the Dutch Institute of International Relations Clingendael, Koen Aartsma, as saying: ‘One must be careful with such reports which appear to be hastily prepared and emanating from an impartial source.’ , in allusion to the Israeli “special report”.
MP Caroline van der Plas questioned Prime Minister Dick Schoof during the plenary session about the allegations mentioned in the report.
For his part, MP Chris Stover based himself on the Israeli report to propose to Parliament to include the small Dutch groups – which Israel accuses of supporting Hamas – on the sanctions list and to designate them as terrorist organizations.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans sowed chaos in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, following their team’s match against Ajax in the Europa League on the evening of November 7.
Left-wing Israeli channel Canal 12 reported that clashes broke out in central Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and pro-Palestinian sympathizers after Israeli fans tore down a Palestinian flag hanging from a building and provoked drivers. Dutch taxi driver of Arab origin.
Several video clips relayed on social networks showed a large number of Israeli supporters chanting slogans hostile to Arabs and Palestinians.
Before the match kicked off, Israeli fans provoked their Dutch counterparts in the stands by refusing to observe a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the devastating floods which devastated Spain.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans disrupted the minute’s silence by setting off fireworks during the solemn moment.
Amsterdam police reported five Israelis briefly hospitalized and 63 arrests, as Israel organized emergency flights to repatriate its citizens.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said at a press conference that groups of individuals targeted supporters of the Israeli club, hitting and kicking them.
*Translated from Arabic by Majdi Ismail
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