Ajax-Maccabi/Tel Aviv match: a Pogrom in the city of Anne Frank

VIOLENCE ANTISEMITE A AMSTERDAM

The environmentalist mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, announced the opening of an investigation to find out what happened on the night of Thursday to Friday following the anti-Semitic violence which targeted Israeli supporters of the Maccabi team . AFP

The Ajax-Maccabi/Tel Aviv match gave rise, Thursday evening, November 7, 2024, to scenes of extreme violence in the center of Amsterdam. If we were able to believe, for a moment, in “simple” and banal clashes between hooligans supporting the two clubs, the information which accumulated throughout the day on Friday sheds a much more sinister light on the facts: it This is indeed a “hunt for Jews” which took place in the heart of Europe. The emotion is immense in the Netherlands, but also in the rest of the world.

The images speak for themselves. In Amsterdam, during the night from Thursday to Friday, men were chased by hateful and vociferous groups. They were thrown to the ground, punched and kicked, and ordered, under threat of continued beatings, to shout “ Free Palestine “. At least one of the victims was thrown into a canal and prevented, for many minutes, from getting out. Others were the subject of attempted crushing by ram cars.

The attackers acted in small clusters, very mobile, perfectly coordinated with messengers who went from one group to another on scooters to distribute instructions.

The attackers acted in small clusters, very mobile, perfectly coordinated with messengers who went from one group to another on scooters to distribute instructions. They were real commandos, many of the thugs were masked, some brandished sticks, even knives. Hotels were targeted with mortars. The toll is not yet official, but there are between 5 and 10 injured hospitalized, two or three victims have not given any sign of life for almost twenty-four hours.

For the police chief, “ Horrible and unacceptable violence »

Around the Dam, the large square which is the beating heart of Amsterdam, we witnessed real scenes of lynching. Or more precisely to a pogrom, the first in Europe since the Shoah. Because all the victims were Jewish and attacked for this sole reason. Won Yip, a hotelier who owns three establishments on the Dam which accommodated a thousand supporters of the football club, Maccabi, attended everything from his office and had all exits to his hotels closed to protect his guests. He testified, Friday morning, in the columns of Telegrapha major Dutch daily: “ There are matches where we demolish for the sake of demolition, but there, it was exclusively a hunt for Israeli supporters, for Jews “. Friday noon, Janny Knol, the head of the Amsterdam police, confirmed this in a post on “X”: the violence “ horrible and unacceptable » of Thursday evening were indeed « anti-Semitic acts ».

There are matches where we demolish for the sake of demolishing, but there, it was exclusively a hunt for Israeli supporters, for Jews.

Those who had tried to minimize the affair by passing it off as what it was not – a series of brawls between supporters of rival clubs – then changed their tune, recognizing that the Israelis had been particularly targeted. But, they explained on social networks, it was a “ spontaneous reaction »: “young people” had been scandalized by the excesses of Israeli supporters who had torn down Palestinian flags from certain facades, uttered insults or struck blows. In short, the victims had been looking for it…

Premeditation is evident

If these acts are obviously reprehensible, the thesis of the outbreak of anger did not hold up for long. Because Thursday’s abuses are anything but “spontaneous”. Messages exchanged from Tuesday and Wednesday – that is to say 24 to 48 hours had the facts – on “pro-Palestinian” lists, on Telegramspoke of the need to “welcome” Israelis properly and called for rallies.

Activist groups free.palestine.nl » et « Week.4PalestineNL » were particularly active in these incitements to mobilization. Furthermore, the police said they were investigating the complicity of….taxi drivers, some of whom had deliberately dropped off Israelis near groups of attackers and others who had refused to pick them up as they fled the places of violence. Another sign of premeditation. The modus operandi of the thugs, as we mentioned above (action in small commandos, great mobility, simultaneous attacks in various locations, etc.) leaves little room for doubt.

Moreover, the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema (ecologist), announced at the beginning of the afternoon, this Friday, November 8, that an independent investigation would take place to look into “ incidents, their preparation, and the response of the authorities “. If it is necessary to investigate the “preparation” of the attacks, it is clear that there was premeditation.

The police reaction raises questions

Something else still raises questions in these dramatic events: the authorities had been warned (among others by the Israeli services) of the risks of attack against citizens of the Jewish State. However, and although those responsible deny it, the security system has clearly been undersized. The reaction of the police, although it ended up being strong and resulted in dozens of arrests, was particularly slow. At the Marriott Hotel, for example, it took three hours for riot control units to come and free those who were besieged there. We will have to know why.

This attitude recalls that a few weeks ago, the management of the Dutch police and the police unions were upset by the fact that some of their colleagues had been refusing for months, “ for moral reasons » to protect events or places linked to the Jewish community.

More serious, the numerous amateur videos circulating since Thursday evening show police vehicles passing a few meters from scenes of beatings without intervening. Certainly we can argue that crews of two or men could not intervene without risk in the face of groups of around fifteen violent rioters. But they could at least turn on the sirens and the “blues” of their cars, which could have had a deterrent effect. This was not the case….

This attitude recalls that a few weeks ago, the management of the Dutch police and the police unions were upset by the fact that some of their colleagues had been refusing for months, “ for moral reasons » to protect events (conferences, ceremonies) or places (synagogues, Jewish museum, Anne Frank House) linked to the Jewish community. Perhaps it is time to thoroughly investigate the infiltration of the police by extremist elements and take appropriate action.

Around the world, unanimous condemnations

In Israel, the shock was terrible. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would send two planes to the Netherlands to evacuate Israelis, but changed his mind when order was restored. The Israeli army has, however, banned military personnel from traveling to the Netherlands.

But the wave of emotion went far beyond the borders of the Jewish state. In a message published this Friday on “X”, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned violence reminiscent of “the most shameful hours in history”, while his outgoing American counterpart, Joe Biden, spoke of “ anti-Semitic attacks despicable et echoing dark times in history when Jews were persecuted » and that Chancellor Olaf Scholtz declared “ He who attacks Jews attacks us all ».

Amsterdam remembers a dark night and even today it is still dark. Our city is deeply damaged, our life and our Jewish culture are threatened.

But it was from the Netherlands that the strongest statements came, perhaps because this pogrom took place in Anne Frank’s town and a few hundred meters from the house where her family hid in the vain hope of escaping the Nazis. “ Amsterdam remembers a dark night and even today it is still dark. Our city is deeply damaged, our life and our Jewish culture are threatened. The war in the Middle East also threatens our city… », indicated the mayor of Amsterdam.

King Willem-Alexander himself spoke in high-minded terms and expressed his deep disgust: “ We failed the Jewish community during World War II, and last night we failed again ».

Hugues Krasner

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