The Netherlands denounces “unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks against Israelis” in Amsterdam. Supporters of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, an Israeli football club, were violently attacked on the sidelines of the Europa League match against Ajax Amsterdam, Thursday November 7. Five people were injured, more than 64 arrested. Dutch police are investigating, the circumstances remain unclear at the moment. Franceinfo was able to contact one of the Maccabi supporters who attended the match and the scenes of violence that followed in the Dutch capital.
Since Thursday evening, images of violence and the hunting of Jewish Maccabi supporters in the streets of central Amsterdam have been circulating. David was present. This ultra Maccabi supporter never misses any of the club's away trips and is used to post-match violence between supporters. “There, we were in something else”, he says. There were bands touring all over downtown Amsterdam,”with the clear, clear and precise information that at a certain time, after the match, the Israelis would leave Central Station and slowly but surely separate towards their respective hotels“.
“Everyone who didn’t respond in Arabic or Dutch got hit”
He reports that groups in cars, motorcycles, electric bikes or on foot “slowed down, stopped“, asked people: “Twhere are you from” et “every person who didn't respond in Arabic or Dutch got hit“David is shocked by what he saw, including a 60-year-old father who was hit in the head while he was protecting his 20-year-old son, who was already on the ground. “When both sides seek each other, there is no problem. But here, we are not at all in this scenario, he confides. It's hardcore, right?“.
Shortly after the start of this violence, David confirmed that around a hundred Maccabi ultra supporters had in turn gathered in the center. They confronted small groups or tore down Palestinian flags hanging from buildings. Most of the Israelis, escorted to their hotels by police on Thursday evening, are due to return to Tel Aviv by Friday evening on one of Israel's chartered planes.
