Amsterdam bans protests after ‘antisemitic squads’ attack Israeli soccer fans

Amsterdam: Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from Friday (local time) after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the mayor called “antisemitic hit-and-run squads”, and Israel sent planes to the Netherlands to fly fans home.

Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had been “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” around the city, and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital.

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters walk toward police line, with police vans driving in the background, near the soccer stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Credit: AP

Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening’s match.

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

Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza after the attacks on Israel by Hamas militants in October last year, with many Jewish organisations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.

People welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans as they arrive at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on a flight from Amsterdam, where Israeli soccer fans were attacked.Credit: AP

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government sent planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home, while foreign minister Gideon Saar flew to Amsterdam for impromptu meetings with the Dutch government and far-right leader Geert Wilders.

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

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions displaced in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials there, launched after Hamas killed 1200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages in the initial cross-border attack, according to Israel.

Mayor Halsema said 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.

Palestinian supporters march through Amsterdam on Thursday night.Credit: AP

“Antisemitic hit-and-run squads” had managed to evade a force of around 200 officers, she said.

Security was tightened in the city, where a service was planned at a Jewish monument on Saturday to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on November 9-10, 1938.

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

Another verified video showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs”, referring to the Israel Defence Forces.

In this image taken from video, police stand guard as Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters light flares at the Dam square, in Amsterdam on Thursday.Credit: AP

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

Anti-Muslim politician Wilders, head of the largest party in the government, said he was “ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands”. In a post on X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported.

Police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro station before the Ajax game.Credit: AP

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.

Reuters