Israeli football supporters attacked during the night in Amsterdam suffered “a mass lynching”, denounced this Friday, November 8 on BFMTV, the president of Crif, Yonathan Arfi, expressing his “concern” and his “anger”.
Clashes broke out overnight from Thursday to Friday in Amsterdam following a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, with Israel denouncing violence “terrible” against his supporters and sending planes to assist them.
“This is mass lynching, systematic attack on Israeli supporters after the match”said the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, deploring an insufficient security system.
“It’s the crassest anti-Semitism that resurfaces through these images”he said, judging that Israeli supporters had been targeted “not only in the name of the conflict happening in Gaza but also because they are Jewish.”
Before France-Israel
Asked about the France-Israel match, scheduled for next Thursday at the Stade de France, Mr. Arfi said he “worried” but favorable to its maintenance.
“If we relocated this match, if we canceled it in France, but what symbol would it be? (…) On the contrary, I believe that we must hold this match and put the necessary security measures on site.” but also “in the streets of Paris”he said.
In a message posted shortly after on the social network X, Mr. Arfi added: “Free Palestine has unfortunately become a hateful rallying cry, misused to justify unacceptable violence. (…) This is an immense challenge to Europe.”
France
