A first plane carrying Israeli supporters evacuated from Amsterdam landed in Tel Aviv this Friday, against a backdrop of violence on the sidelines of a Football match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, which sparked indignation in the world.
Dutch police reported five people mainly hospitalized and 62 arrests after the night's violence, described as an “explosion of anti-Semitism” by the mayor of the city, to which Israel dispatched planes to repatriate supporters.
This violence represents an “explosion of anti-Semitism” that “has not been seen for a long time,” said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, citing people who beat supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv team before to light the fire, with the “thugs on scooters” looking for Israeli supporters. She also announced a strengthening of security measures as well as a temporary ban on demonstrations in the capital. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described last night's “anti-Semitic attacks” as “unacceptable.”
The shock in Israel
In addition to regular flights, four special evacuation flights were planned on Friday and two more on Saturday, according to a spokeswoman for the Israeli airline El Al. “This means that 1,850 Israelis returned from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv,” she clarified. From their testimony, it appears that the attacks to which they were victims had been planned and organized in advance.
In Israel, incomprehension reigns. Several hours before the match, Mossad and the anti-Semitism monitoring department at the Israeli Foreign Ministry had spotted alarming signals on certain Dutch social networks. Warnings were subsequently sent to local authorities without any real follow-up. Since the Amsterdam police were unable to prevent the outbreak of violence, the media in Israel are also questioning the fact that Maccabi supporters were not warned of the risks they were running.
Beyond security failures, the events in Amsterdam revive a painful memory in Israel. Political leaders, notably the president of the Israeli state, described them as a veritable pogrom. Many politicians and editorialists are wondering about the very future of Jewish communities in certain European countries.
Scandalous reactions
Several heads of state have expressed their indignation. US President Joe Biden described as “abject” these “anti-Semitic attacks” which recall “dark moments in history, when Jews were persecuted”.
“Shocked” by this violence, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned “all forms of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”, just as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, declared “attacks “despicable”. The head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, entertains with his Dutch counterpart, Caspar Veldkamp, who demands “to ensure the immediate safety of all people in danger”.
“Appalling incident”
In Israel, the scenes of violence aroused strong emotion, in a context marked by the rise in anti-Semitic acts in the world after the war between Israel and Hamas, representatives of the EU and the United States deplored in September. . “tsunami of anti-Semitism.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he considered “the appalling incident with great seriousness” and “demanded (Dutch authorities) to act vigorously and quickly against the rioters.” He also ordered Mossad, Israeli foreign intelligence, to develop an action plan to prevent violence during future sporting events. These events have “nothing to do with football”, commented Maccabi Tel Aviv boss Ben Mansford on his return to Israel.
“The fact that I was attacked because I was Jewish and I came to support my team makes no sense. It's not linked to football, it's linked to anti-Semitism and hatred.” , says Amit Ganor, a 21-year-old Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter, after Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Founded under another name in 1906, Maccabi Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest and most successful club. These sympathizers have no particular references to violence, but the images circulating are sold on social networks and presented in the form of filmed films.amsterdam–the origin of which AFP has not yet been able to verify- – shows what appears to be dozens of the club's fans chanting in Hebrew “Let the Israeli army win! We're going to screw the Arabs!”
“Anti-Palestinian racism”
Thursday afternoon, around a hundred Israeli supporters gathered on Dam Square, surrounded by a large police force, before returning to the Johan Cruyff stadium in Amsterdam. In a statement, the Palestinian Football Federation denounced the “anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia demonstrated by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, who also attacked houses and magazines displaying Palestinian flags in solidarity with the victims of the genocide in progress.
A pro-Palestinian rally condemning the Israeli club hall was initially planned near the stadium, but was moved a little further into the neighborhood by the town hall for security reasons. The Israeli Prime Minister's office called on supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball section to avoid a club match on Friday in Italy, saying they feared “a wave of similar actions”. However, the meeting did not give rise to any incident.
Asked about the France-Israel football match, scheduled for Thursday at the Stade de France, the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, declared that he would not accept its relocation. “France is not backing down because that would amount to abdicating in the face of threats of violence and anti-Semitism,” he wrote on X.
