The Netherlands’ riot police had to intervene on Thursday night after numerous riots in the center of the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, when attacks were reported against supporters of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv, which lost its Europa League match against Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
The Dutch television channel AT5 has indicated that the riots were possibly related to clashes between pro-Palestinian youth and fans of the Israeli club. In fact, the Police have tried to keep those who were demonstrating shouting ‘Free Palestine’ away from the stadium.
The images of the riots have gone viral through social networks, from where the former Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett has made a “urgent call to action” to “avoid injuries and worse situations.” “What I see seems to endanger the lives of innocent people: innocent people run over, beaten, thrown into a river and much more,” he said.
Netanyahu sends planes
Following this, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reported that “it is aware of the details of the serious incident of violence in Amsterdam against Israeli citizens” and has ordered the “immediate” sending of two rescue planes to take them out of the country.
“The Prime Minister takes this horrible event very seriously and demands that the Dutch Government and the Dutch security forces act firmly and quickly against the rioters and guarantee the peace of our citizens,” reads a statement.
The scenes from Amsterdam remind us all of Europe’s darkest days.
Jews being hunted and beaten on the streets of Europe should be a wake up call for anyone who still needs it about the rise of antisemitism and the dangers of extremism.
— Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) November 8, 2024
Few taxes, many deportations: this will be Trump’s USA
Clashes broke out at night in the center of the Dutch city after a Europa League match between Ajax and the Israeli club, which the local team won (5-0).
According to local media AT5, the Dutch capital was the scene of numerous acts of vandalism and fights that forced the police to escort the Israeli fans to their hotel.
Cited by the ANP press agency, the Amsterdam police made 57 arrests during the day.
In his account, X had warned that he was “particularly vigilant” after having detected several incidents, including one in which “Unknown assailants” tore down a Palestinian flag of a facade.
Since the afternoon, a hundred Israeli fans had gathered in Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam, surrounded by a large police force, before moving to the Johan Cruyff stadium.
Pro-Palestinian concentration
A pro-Palestinian rally was planned next to the stadium, which was finally moved to a more remote area by the mayor’s office for security reasons.
USA: “Horribly reminiscent of a progrom”
The special charge of the United States office against anti-Semitism, Deborah Lipstadt, has denounced the riots in the center of Amsterdam, against Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, and has said that these attacks “are terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom.”
«Horrified by tonight’s attacks in Amsterdam, which are terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom. “I am also deeply concerned about the duration of the attacks and call on the Government to carry out a thorough investigation into the intervention of the security forces and how these despicable attacks occurred,” she said.
Lipstadt has stated that, “in a terrible historical irony, This occurs two days before the grim anniversary of Kristallnacht in 1938, when the Nazis carried out a series of pogroms in what is considered the beginning of the persecution of Jews in Germany.
