Reported anti-Semitic violence following a football match in Amsterdam between Dutch team Ajax and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv has caused shock in Israel and across the West.
Videos on social media showed how Israeli football supporters were chased by masked men and assaulted following the game on the night of November 7.
Groups of men were seen singling out Maccabi supporters, asking where they were from before beating them up and insulting them. In some cases, identity papers were stolen.
Masked men were also seen tearing down Israeli flags from buildings and hurling fireworks at facades displaying the banners.
Israelis nearby were forced to, run, hide and barricade themselves in.
Beelden van een groepsjacht op "zionisten" door onze straatsoldaten. #ajamac pic.twitter.com/1WB9OTPeZa
— Michael Vis (@MichaelVis_) November 8, 2024
Straatsoldaten mishandelen iemand, aflevering zoveel. #ajamac pic.twitter.com/PTRChKqHpu
— Michael Vis (@MichaelVis_) November 8, 2024
Some Maccabi fans even jumped into the famous Amsterdam canals to avoid being attacked.
In one video, a man is shown being kicked to the ground while shouting, “I’m not Jewish.”
Another clip circulating online showed a person being hit by a car.
Outraged observers have referred to the incident as a “pogrom” and “a Jew hunt” and demanded a strong reaction from the city of Amsterdam and the Dutch Government.
The attacks came just hours after the Dutch commemoration of the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, where leaders of the Dutch Jewish community had said they were worried and asked for official notification to show they were welcome in the country.
Poging doodslag? #ajamac pic.twitter.com/YKRcMiJLgB
— Michael Vis (@MichaelVis_) November 8, 2024
Beelden van een groepsjacht op "zionisten" door onze straatsoldaten. #ajamac pic.twitter.com/1WB9OTPeZa
— Michael Vis (@MichaelVis_) November 8, 2024
In response to the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially ordered two rescue planes to be dispatched immediately to Amsterdam. On the morning of November 8, that order was cancelled.
Instead, Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar will go to the Netherlands to meet Dutch officials and representatives of the Jewish community.
Israel’s national airline El Al has launched extra flights, free of charge, for all passengers who held a ticket from that airline or other providers.
Netanyahu said he had viewed the “horrifying incident with utmost gravity” and called on the Dutch Government and security forces take “vigorous and swift action against the rioters”.
Israel’s Ministry of National Security has advised its citizens in Amsterdam to remain in their hotel rooms following the attacks, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
“Fans who went to see a football game encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness. I condemn any attempt to make the victim guilty,” Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said early on November 8 in a post on X.
“This is not only an injury to Jews and Israelis but a warning sign to all European countries against radical Muslim violence.
“Those who turn a blind eye to Islamic terrorism in the Middle East will meet it at home in Europe and the West. Today the victims were Israelis, tomorrow it will be you Europeans,” he wrote.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has spoken on the phone with Netanyahu, condemning the violence, which Schoof called “totally unacceptable”, adding that the culprits would be found and brought to justice.
As of the morning of November 8, 62 people were reportedly being held by the city’s police.
According to Israel’s foreign ministry and Dutch local authorities, at least 10 people have been injured, while three are reported as missing.
Maccabi Tel Aviv shared a post on social media showing Israel’s national security agency instructions, including that supporters should not move around the streets but remain in their hotel rooms and avoid what it called the “externalisation of Israeli/Jewish symbols”.
On social media, some have claimed the attacks were provoked, with one clip apparently showing Maccabi supporters tearing down a Palestine flag. Others showed supporters singing their club songs, wrongfully accusing them of chanting against Arabs and Gaza.
Before the match, fans of both clubs had reportedly celebrated together without incident. Amsterdam has a large historic Jewish population and ahead of the game Ajax supporters had embraced Jewish symbols and identity, with friendly chants and nickname-calling related to Jewish culture.
Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable. https://t.co/Ju54TO27Ks
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) November 8, 2024
What you are seeing in Amsterdam tonight is a pogrom. Imported islamic thugs are hunting Jews in the streets.
It's not 1934, it's 2024.
Europe opened its doors to the dregs of the world and allowed this to happen.
— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) November 8, 2024
The mobs of Middle Eastern migrants hunting Jews in Amsterdam tonight are interrogating people they meet on the streets
If ppl don’t know Dutch or Arabic, they are attacked
This Ukrainian tourist was suspected of being Jewish and was forced to show his ID to be allowed to leave pic.twitter.com/TkJbDGGwVC
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 8, 2024
