Amsterdam bans demonstrations after attacks on Israeli soccer fans

AMSTERDAM - Netherlands’ capital, Amsterdam, banned demonstrations for three days from Nov 8 after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the Mayor called “anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads” and Israel said it would fly many fans home.

The city’s Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had been “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” and riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels.

At least five people were treated in hospital, she added.

Videos on social media show riot police intervening in street clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs.

Some footage shows Israeli supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before the match on Nov 7.

“We saw a lot of demonstrations, a lot of people running. It was really, really terrifying,” said Israeli soccer fan Joni Pogrebetsy, who had travelled to Amsterdam for the match.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was sending planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home.

Anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands have surged since Israel launched its assault on Gaza following

the Oct 7, 2023, attacks on Israel

by the Palestinian Hamas group, with many Jewish organisations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.

Amsterdam banned demonstrations through the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers in response to unrest that exposed deep anger over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, 102,000 others injured and millions displaced in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials. This comes after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Ms Halsema said city police had been taken by surprise after security services failed to flag the match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, as high-risk.

She added that “anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads” had managed to evade a force of around 200 officers.

Security was further tightened in the city, where a service was planned at a Jewish monument on Nov 9.

On Nov 7, hundreds had gathered to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany from Nov 9 to 10, 1938.

A video verified by Reuters shows a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.

However, another verified video shows Maccabi fans setting off flares and chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will f*** the Arabs”, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens” and added that he had assured Mr Netanyahu by phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted”.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who he said had “expressed deep horror and shock over the criminal acts committed”.

Mr Herzog quoted the King as saying the Netherlands had failed its Jewish community during World War II – under Nazi occupation and persecution – and again on the night of Nov 7.

Mr Herzog’s opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam in March led to protests by pro-Palestinian activists and there was violence in May at student-led pro-Palestinian protests in the city.

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was “ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands”.

In a vitriolic post on social media platform X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported.

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which 3,000 Maccabi supporters had travelled to Amsterdam to attend.

The Israeli Embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, “kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens”.

“On the eve of Kristallnacht – when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks – it is horrifying to witness anti-Semitic violence on the streets of Europe once again,” it said.

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.

Ten people remained in custody on Nov 8.

Police said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.

Mr Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence recalled the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen in 2023 as well as attacks on European Jews in the pogroms of previous centuries.

“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since Oct 7, 2023, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam,” he wrote on X.

Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia announced five flights to Amsterdam.

The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the US, and Arabs and Jews have been attacked. REUTERS