With a white hat on his head, images of a young 14-year-old teenager for his news and entertainment channel, “Bender”, are making the rounds on the web. Known in the Netherlands for his videos, “BenderBij”, whose real name is Benjamin Julius Pearson Buit according to a Dutch source, describes himself as a “journalist of humor and criticism”. And that sad night, during which Israeli supporters were attacked and chased in the streets of Amsterdam, he was there, too, with his cameraman.
We see him on his yellow microphone marked with a capital “B”, commenting on what he sees live. “ Ladies and gentlemen, behind me, the match is still in progress », says the young YouTuber in a nasal voice. The young man has some 223,000 subscribers on YouTube, 422,200 on TikTok, and 262,000 on Instagram since he posted his first video in March 2023. The Dutch have already seen him in climate protests, or evenings devoted to video games. He has the facial expressions of a television journalist, while he simply explains this evening of November 8 that he is “ curious » to follow the atmosphere after the match, when the Israeli supporters will leave the stadium. That evening, their football team was beaten by Ajax Amsterdam (5-0).
Did he expect what he was going to film next? It's not certain. During the sequence which lasts a little over 17 minutes, the teenager is sometimes worried. “ I don't know exactly what's going on.”he says, while he is near the central station. Behind him, we see a cluster of supporters, walking with a determined step. “ Oh, they're picking up poles from the ground », he is surprised when we actually see individuals grabbing the bars of a scaffolding. “There is a fairly tense atmosphere “, he notes, describing the supporters ready to fight.
“Are you going to continue filming? »
« Oh, bars are thrown at police cars », Then indicates the teenager who follows the supporters of Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Then, he continues his reporting in downtown Amsterdam. Taxis honk in unison. “ They steal pallets, walk with planks “, he describes speaking of the supporters as the group suddenly starts running across the street. “ Are you going to continue filming? », a voice asks him. According to the young man, it was a supporter who advised him to stop for his safety.
The tension is palpable. We see the riot police deploying in these images. Teenager's streak continues as he describes fans who know 'tactics' “because all these Israelis have been in the army “. As a reminder, in Israel, military service is compulsory, it lasts three years. “ They are talking in Hebrew, the police cannot understand what they are saying, which makes the situation complicated », adds the boy, as a keen observer.
Palestinian flags
Then we see him near a house that he describes as a squat with Palestinian flags in the windows. “ That's not very smart on the part of the police », Slips the young man, who believes that the Israeli supporters should have been kept away from the building. “The situation is very difficult”he concludes, while angry taxi horns can be heard behind him and supporters are asked to get on buses, supervised by the police.
During the night, the attacks and manhunts which were covered in the media followed. On social networks, his images are now making the rounds on the web, completing the tone of an extremely tense evening on the streets of Amsterdam. AFP confirms that as of Wednesday, isolated clashes had already taken place between supporters of Ajax, Maccabi and the Turkish club Fenerbahce, which was playing against another Dutch club, AZ Alkmaar, according to the police chief from Amsterdam, Peter Holla.
Maccabi fans were seen burning a Palestinian flag in the central Dam Square, Mr. Holla said, and vandalizing a taxi. Hence the anger of the taxi drivers who attacked 400 Maccabi supporters at the Holland Casino. The police then intervened, explains Mr. Holla.
During the day on Thursday, a large group of Maccabi supporters gathered in Dam Square, according to the police chief. A few “incidents” took place and fireworks were set off. In a video posted on social media, the origin of which could not be verified, what appear to be fans of the Maccabi club chant in Hebrew “ May the IDF (Israeli Army) win! We're going to fuck the Arabs! » The match then 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, the country having recently recognized the State of Palestine.
“It’s an explosion of anti-Semitism”
After the match, groups of individuals attacked Maccabi supporters before fleeing on scooters between each attack, in several neighborhoods of the city. Five people were briefly hospitalized. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema spoke at a press conference of groups of individuals targeting supporters of the Israeli club, hitting and kicking them. “ It's an explosion of anti-Semitism that I hope I never see again “, declared Ms. Halsema, who said she was “ashamed” of this violence.
Videos authenticated by AFP show groups of individuals stalking Israeli supporters, throwing objects at them, hitting them and mistreating them. Between 20 and 30 Maccabi fans were injured.
The violence in Amsterdam, where anti-Semitic attacks have increased since the start of the war in Gaza, has been condemned around the world.
