A member of the Amsterdam city council says that “Maccabi hooligans” started fights and attacked people who supported the Palestinians.
Before and after a Europa League football game in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, Israeli football fans got into fights with people who seemed to support the Palestinian cause.
On Thursday night, the fights happened outside of the Johan Cruyff Arena, which is the city’s main arena and home of Ajax Amsterdam. They also happened in other places. After being ahead 3-0 at halftime, Ajax won the game 5-0.
From Amsterdam, Step Vaessen of Al Jazeera said that the fights happened because of tensions that had been building for a few days.
“Hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters came to Amsterdam and held a loud rally in the main square before the incident. They waved Israeli flags and took down a Palestinian flag,” she said.
In response to politically charged events on Thursday, such as the removal of a Palestinian flag from a building, police said on social media that they were being extra careful.
Videos of the alleged incident posted on social media showed Israeli fans yelling slogans while someone took down the flag. Videos from before the game showed large groups of Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab phrases.
An Amsterdam city council member said that the violence started when Israeli fans came to the city and attacked Palestinian fans before the game.
“They began attacking people’s homes in Amsterdam with Palestinian flags, which is where the violence began,” Councilman Jazie Veldhuyzen told Al Jazeera on Friday.
“In response, people in Amsterdam got together and fought back against the attacks that began on Wednesday by the Maccabi hooligans.”
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that 10 Israelis were hurt. It was not made clear by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu what caused what it called a “very violent incident against Israeli citizens.”
“The horrifying incident is seen with the utmost gravity,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office on Friday. “The Dutch government and security forces must take vigorous and swift action against the rioters and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
Amsterdam resident and activist Mo Kotesh said Israeli fans attacked innocent people on the streets, property and taxi drivers on Wednesday and took down a Palestinian flag.
Kotesh, of the Palestinian community in the Netherlands, told Al Jazeera that they went to an area near the central Dam Square – as directed by the municipality – to hold a peaceful demonstration on the day before the match.
He said he saw locals trying to counter the violence started against them and their homes by Israeli fans.
Israeli “hooligans” shouted songs swearing at Arabs, saying, “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left.’”
Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg said the event showed that the Israeli narrative had taken over Europe.
“The fact that Israeli fans riot in the middle of Amsterdam, sing racist songs and climb the walls of homes to tear down Palestinian flags … is part of the Israeli condition at the moment: A complete detachment between actions and consequences,” he told Al Jazeera.
On Friday, Al Jazeera’s Vaessen said the capital was calm.
Arrests And Injuries
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema had banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration amid concerns about tensions between protesters and fans of the Israeli football club.
About 600 police were deployed after rioting started between pro-Palestinian supporters and Maccabi fans, Al Jazeera’s Vaessen reported, adding that five people were quickly taken to hospital with light injuries. Police said on Friday that 62 people were arrested.
Pro-Palestinian protesters had tried to reach the stadium, Vaessen said. According to police, the fans left the stadium without incident, but several clashes in the city centre were reported during the night.
According to Veldhuyzen, the council member, “The mayor says the police did act, but I would say they acted not at the right moments.”
He told Al Jazeera, “They acted only to protect the Maccabi hooligans when Amsterdammers stood up to defend their own people and defend their own houses. And this is when the police showed up to protect the Maccabi fans when they ran away after attacking people.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he followed the news of the riots with “horror”, adding that “the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted.”
In a post on Friday on social media site X, Schoof said, “Completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close touch with all those involved.”
Reprimand From UEFA
Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, talked to Caspar Veldkamp, the Dutch foreign minister, and asked the Dutch government to help get fans from hotels to the Amsterdam airport.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Saar “focused on how seriously Israel views the widespread violent attacks against its citizens in Amsterdam.”
Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, said that Israel’s response to the fights showed a “complete rejection of the notion that actions have consequences,” because of what the Israeli fans did in Amsterdam.
The Israeli club began in 1906 in Jaffa, which is now part of Tel Aviv. This season, it is stuck at the very bottom of the Europa League table, in 36th place.
In the Europa League, its next game is on November 28 against Besiktas, a team from Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish government, on the other hand, has decided that the game will take place in a “neutral venue.”
UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, spoke out against the “acts of violence” that happened before and after the game on Friday.
“We trust that the right authorities will find and charge as many of those responsible for these actions as they can,” the statement said.
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