“A premeditated anti-Semitic attack” : This is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced, following the violent clashes on the sidelines of the Maccabi Tel-Aviv match against Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League, Thursday November 7. After the match lost by the Israeli team, Israeli supporters were violently attacked, leaving several injured and sparking a wave of outraged reactions around the world.
Videos, notably relayed by the Israeli embassy in the United States on X, show attackers, some of whom have their faces hidden, chasing people in the streets or beating them to the ground. Some of the attackers can be heard screaming “Lliberate Palestine”. During the night, police escorted Israeli supporters to their hotel. According to Amsterdam police, 62 arrests were made and five people were taken to hospital. For its part, Israel immediately reacted by sending planes to rescue its nationals.
“Pogroms”, “Jew hunting”… These words are on the lips of representatives of the entire political class. In the middle of the night from Thursday November 7 to Friday November 8, the Israeli Prime Minister decided to urgently send two airliners to repatriate Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters, who number around 3,000, as quickly as possible. The first plane took off from Amsterdam at 9 a.m., Friday November 8. The National Security Council, directly linked to the Prime Minister’s Office, asked Israelis still in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms.
According to Dutch authorities, there were 12 injured. The resources committed, even if we must remain very cautious, seem for the moment disproportionate to the results. But what matters today for Israel is communication. The Jewish state has been on alert since the start of the war and fears attacks against its interests abroad. And it is therefore in this atmosphere that Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message to his fellow citizens in the morning: “Israel protects you and the Jewish State will use all necessary means if necessary”.
One of the Israeli Prime Minister’s predecessors, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, shared images of last night’s violence on his X account and then posted a video message: “Right now in Amsterdam, Jews are being brutally attacked in several locations. A pogrom is underway. I call on the Dutch and Amsterdam city authorities to act immediately to prevent further injured and dead.
The far right, in power in Israel, also quickly expressed its indignation, through the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. He claims that Jews were attacked with great cruelty, because they were Jews and Israelis. Along the same lines, another far-right leader, the Dutch Geert Wilders, called for the expulsion of what he calls “multicultural scum”which he therefore associates with those responsible for the violence. He speaks of acts which resemble, in his words, “a hunt for Jews”.
According to several Dutch media, there was a lot of tension before the match. A pro-Palestine demonstration which was to be organized near the stadium Johan-Cruyff Arena, had been banned the day before by the mayor of Amsterdam.
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