Violence broke out this Thursday evening in Amsterdam, on the sidelines of the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, targeting Israeli supporters. Deployed massively during the day for this meeting, the Amsterdam police indicated having made 62 arrests on the occasion of several incidents, without giving details of the facts. At least five people were hospitalized.
On social networks, numerous videos, which France Bleu is not able to authenticate at this stage, show violence in the streets of the Dutch capital, targeting supporters of the Israeli team. “Police are aware of reports of possible hostage-taking and disappearances, but currently have no confirmation that this actually happened.”continues the Amsterdam police, indicating thatan investigation was underway. “A number of missing people have now been located.”
And joint press release of the mayor of Amsterdam, the attorney general and the police chief speaks of violence “in several places in the city”. Of the “supporters were attacked” et “the police had to intervene on several occasions” pour “protect Israeli fans and escort them to hotels”. A press conference is scheduled to take place at 12 p.m.
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, denounced onanti-Semitic attacks against Israelis” in Amsterdam and said to himself “horrified”. THE “perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted”, he assures, adding that calm has returned to the Dutch capital.
Israel denounces a “pogrom”
The Israeli authorities reacted very stronglythe Prime Minister denouncing “a premeditated anti-Semitic attack”. “The difficult images of the aggression against our citizens in Amsterdam will not be ignored,” promised Benjamin Netanyahu. He announced the “immediate dispatch of two relief planes” to provide assistance to Israeli supporters, while the Israeli army has indicated for its part that it is preparing “a rescue mission” including a cargo plane as well as medical teams. The head of Israeli diplomacy will urgently go to Amsterdam for a “urgent diplomatic visit”.
“We see with horror this morning the shocking images and videos that we had hoped never to see again since October 7: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam.”Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement.
Israeli football fans suffered “a mass lynching”denounced Crif president Yonathan Arfi on BFMTV. “This is a 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 and saying his “worry” and its “anger”.
“It is 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.”
Tensions upstream
Amsterdam police said Thursday that they were “particularly vigilant” on his X account, after having reported several incidentsnotably a Palestinian flag torn from a facade “by strangers”.
In the afternoon, a Hundreds of Israeli supporters gathered on Dam Square, surrounded by a large police force, before going to the Johan Cruyff stadium, in the southwest of the Dutch capital.
And pro-Palestinian rally condemning the arrival of the Israeli club was initially planned near the stadium, but had been moved a little further into the neighborhood by the Amsterdam town hall for security reasons.
On franceinfo, the executive director of Crif, Robert Ejnes, denounced a “lack of preparation on the part of the police and the Dutch state”. These facts are not “unfortunately not surprising”, lamented Robert Ejnes. “We realize that in Europe Jews are not safe,” he says.
A France-Israel match at the Stade de France next Thursday
Questioned on the France-Israel matchscheduled for next Thursday at the Stade de France, Fabrice Arfi said “worried” but in favor of its maintenance. “If we relocated this match, if we canceled it in France, but what symbol would that be? (…) I believe that on the contrary we must hold this match, put the necessary security resources on site” but also “in the streets of Paris”he said.
Wednesday before Paris SG's Champions League match against Atlético Madrid at the Parc des Princes, supporters unfurled a huge banner in support of Gaza, condemned by the Minister of the Interior who ordered the Parisian club to explain.
This Friday on Cnews/Europe 1, the coordinator of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard requested the cancellation of the Nations League match at the Stade de France.
