Israeli fans were attacked after a Soccer match in Amsterdam between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv by hordes of young people apparently exasperated by calls on social media targeting Jews, Dutch authorities said Friday. The violence was condemned as anti-Semitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.
Updated yesterday at 5:42 p.m.
Anna Maria JAKUBEK
Agence France-Presse
What you need to know
- Clashes broke out in Amsterdam on Thursday evening on the sidelines of a soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv;
- Police reported 5 injuries and 62 arrests;
- The events sparked reactions of indignation around the world.
Dutch police reported 5 people briefly hospitalized and 62 arrests after the night’s violence, described as an “explosion of anti-Semitism” by the mayor of Amsterdam, where Israel dispatched planes to repatriate supporters.
In addition to regular flights, four special evacuation flights were planned for Friday and two others this Saturday, according to a spokeswoman for the Israeli airline El Al. A first plane carrying Israeli supporters evacuated from Amsterdam landed in Tel -Aviv.
“This means that around 1,850 Israelis will return from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv,” she said.
This violence represents an “explosion of anti-Semitism” the likes of which we have “not seen in a long time,” declared Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, reporting people who hit supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv team before fleeing.
PHOTO KOEN VAN WEEL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Amsterdam Mayor (center), Femke Halsema, at a press conference on Friday
She also announced a strengthening of security measures as well as a temporary ban on demonstrations in the capital.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the night’s “anti-Semitic attacks” “unacceptable.”
Police on alert
Widely deployed on Thursday before the match, the Dutch police were on alert after a Palestinian flag was torn down the day before from a facade on a main avenue in the city center.
The violence had already started on Wednesday evening between supporters. It was a night with incidents on both sides. Maccabi supporters removed a flag from a facade of the Rokin and destroyed a taxi. A Palestinian flag was set on fire at the dam.
Peter Holla, police chief in Amsterdam
During the night, “the police had to intervene several times to protect Israeli supporters and escort them to their hotels,” according to the Dutch authorities.
Indignant reactions
Several heads of state expressed their indignation.
US President Joe Biden described as “abject” these “anti-Semitic attacks” which recall “dark moments in history, when Jews were persecuted”.
The Canadian Prime Minister condemned the “terrifying” events in Amsterdam on Friday, denouncing the “repugnant anti-Semitism” marking the clashes which took place on Thursday.
This is a dark moment for our world, one we have experienced before.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, on
“Shocked” by this violence, UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned “all forms of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”, while the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, denounced “attacks vile.”
The head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, spoke with his Dutch counterpart, Caspar Veldkamp, asking him to “ensure the immediate safety of all those 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 since the war between Israel and Hamas, with representatives of the EU and the United States deploring in September a “tsunami of anti-Semitism”.
PHOTO VLN NIEUWS, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Dutch Mobile Police officers stand guard following the soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam on Friday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he considered the “appalling incident with the greatest seriousness” and “demanded [des autorités néerlandaises] to act vigorously and quickly against the rioters.”
Mr. Netanyahu 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 soccer,” 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 soccer, it’s linked to anti-Semitism and hatred,” says Amit Ganor, a 21-year-old Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter, at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
PHOTO MICHEL VAN BERGEN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Members of the Royal Military Police deployed outside Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands, on Thursday
Founded under another name in 1906, Maccabi Tel Aviv is Israel’s oldest and most successful club.
His supporters are not particularly known to be violent, but images circulating on social networks on Friday and presented as being filmed in Amsterdam – the origin of which AFP has not yet been able to verify – show what appears to be dozens of admirers from the club singing in Hebrew “May the Israeli army win!” We’re going to fuck the Arabs! “.
Thursday afternoon, around a hundred Israeli supporters gathered on Dam Square, surrounded by a large police force, before going to the Johan Cruyff stadium in Amsterdam.
In a statement, the Palestinian Soccer Association denounced the “anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia demonstrated by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, who also attacked homes and stores displaying the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the victims of the genocide in progress “.
A pro-Palestinian rally condemning the arrival of the Israeli club was initially planned near the stadium, but was moved a little further into the neighborhood by the town hall for security reasons.
With the Associated Press
