The Israeli authorities denounce a “premeditated anti-Semitic attack. Supporters of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, an Israeli football club, were violently attacked on the sidelines of the Europa League match against Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday, November 7. Amsterdam police announced Friday morning that they had made 62 arrests, while Israel sent planes to assist its nationals. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about the events of the evening, which take place against the backdrop of the war waged by Israel in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
A high-tension match
The meeting between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv was the subject of a major police force to regulate the arrival of Israeli supporters in the Dutch capital. In the afternoon, around a hundred of them gathered on Dam Square, surrounded by a cordon of police, before going to the Johan-Cruijff Arena, the stadium of the 'Ajax, in the southwest of the city.
A pro-Palestinian rally condemning the arrival of the Israeli club was initially planned near the stadium, but was moved a little further away by Amsterdam town hall for security reasons. The Dutch police declared, as early as Thursday morning on their X account, that they were “particularly vigilant” after several initial incidents, including a Palestinian flag torn from a facade “by strangers”.
Violent attacks in the streets of the city
After the match lost by the Israeli team, clashes broke out, but the course of events was not yet clear on Friday morning. Videos, notably relayed by the Israeli embassy in the United States on X, show attackers, some with their faces hidden, chasing people in the streets or beating them to the ground. Some of the attackers can be heard screaming “Lliberate Palestine”. “They started hitting us, they broke my face, knocked out my tooth, cut my lip. My son was punched twice in the face.”reports a supporter to the Israeli channel Channel 13 News, a testimony relayed by the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Other videos, relayed before the meeting by Dutch anti-fascist activists, show a group of supporters singing in Hebrew “Finish the Arabs! We will win!” or even “Let the IDF win to finish off the Arabs”reports AFP on X.
During the night, the police escorted Israeli supporters to their hotel, according to footage shared by local media outlet AT5. “Young people also allegedly provoked the police”added AT5. Amsterdam police announced Friday morning that they had made 62 arrests and were aware of “five people taken to hospital”.
Strong condemnations in Israel and around the world
Very quickly, the Dutch authorities denounced this violence. Prime Minister Dick Schoof spoke on Friday morning about “anti-Semitic attacks against Israelis”qualifying them as“unacceptable” on his X account. “I am in close contact with everyone involved. [Benyamin] Netanyahu insisted that the perpetrators of these acts must be sought and prosecuted.he clarified.
The two leaders spoke and during this exchange, the Israeli Prime Minister “stated that he viewed the premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens with seriousness and called for increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands”according to a press release from his office. Israeli President Isaac Herzog lamented “shocking images and videos that we hoped we would never see again since October 7: an anti-Semitic pogrom”.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for his part, urged Israeli nationals present in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms after these attacks. A directive finally amended Friday morning, the Israeli Foreign Ministry affirming that security forces had been deployed to allow them to reach the airport safely, according to Haaretz. The new head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, also spoke with his Dutch counterpart. He “will soon leave for an urgent diplomatic visit to the Netherlands”announced his services Friday morning.
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders described, on his X account, “a hunt for Jews in the streets of Amsterdam”. “Arrest and expel the multicultural scum who attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in our streets. It is shameful that this could happen in the Netherlands. Totally unacceptable”he added. In France, Yonathan Arfi, the president of Crif, criticized on RTL “anti-Semitic lynchings, supporters hunted because they are Jewish”.
Israel sends planes to help its nationals
Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two planes to be sent Friday morning to repatriate Israeli supporters present in Amsterdam. The Israeli army, for its part, claimed to be preparing “a rescue mission” including a cargo plane, as well as medical teams. A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the two countries discussed Israel's request to send two planes “to recover Israeli civilians”. A first aircraft took off from Tel Aviv on Friday morning, and is expected in Amsterdam early in the afternoon.
