The riots in Amsterdam in connection with the football match between the local team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Johan Cruijff ArenA last Thursday went beyond football hooliganism and deteriorated into violent attacks against Israeli football fans.
As far as is known, the match itself, which Ajax won by 5 – 0, took place without any incidents. Often, supporters of the opposing teams are chanting antisemitic slogans in the matches because Ajax is associated with Amsterdam’s Jewish community.
The Amsterdam authorities issued the following statement. ‘’The night after the football match between Ajax – Maccabi Tel Aviv was very turbulent with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters. In several places in the city, supporters were attacked. The police had to intervene several times, protect Israeli supporters and escort them to hotels.”
At a press conference on Friday, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said that it was "a pitch-black night" for the city. "Young men on scooters crossed the city, fleeing from the police. The fact that this is happening in Amsterdam is unbearable and indigestible. Our city has been deeply damaged, our Jewish life and culture are under threat."
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the night’s “anti-Semitic attacks” as “unacceptable”. "We failed the Jewish community in the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again," King Willem-Alexander was reported to have said.
The Jewish community in Amsterdam dates back to the 16th century when Jews fleeing the inquisition in Portugal arrived there. During the Holocaust, 75 % of the Jews in Amsterdam perished, more than in another Western city under Nazi-Germany’s occupation. Amsterdam is known for the house where Anne Frank and her family was hiding for two years until they were caught by the Nazis.
Despite the history, over half of the respondents in a survey in 2022 of Dutch people born after 1980 did not name their own country as a country where the Holocaust took place. 12% of all respondents believed the Holocaust is a myth. Although almost everyone knew Anne Frank’s name, 27% of the respondents did not know that she died in a concentration camp.
The violence in the streets last week reminded some EU leaders of the pogrom in Nazi-Germany on 9 – 10 November (‘Kristallnacht’). In those dark days in Europe’s history, an estimated 90 Jews were murdered.
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán, Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen started their joint press conference at the informal European Council meeting in Budapest on Friday with condemning the attack.
‘’I just spoke with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Schoof. I strongly condemn these unacceptable acts. Antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred,’’ said von der Leyen. Her tweet on X was followed by false allegations that she was indifferent to the killing of Palestinian in Gaza. Others mentioned that the Israeli football hooligans were not innocent.
Before the match, they had pulled down Palestinian flags from buildings (shown on video), shouted racist anti-Arab slogans and assaulted a taxi driver. This was confirmed by Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla at the press conference. The mayor stressed that it was “no excuse” for the violence that followed when everyone suspected of being Israeli or Jewish was assaulted by a violent mob.
Avoidable violence
Amsterdam’s city council will hold an extraordinary debate on Tuesday to discuss what happened. Femke Halsema, the mayor, has also promised to present the facts. It is known that 62 persons were apprehended during the hit and run attacks. Five of them were detained on Monday, charged with assault. 40 persons have been released after been fined for general destruction.
Could the violence had been avoided? Probably yes. According to Israeli media, the Israeli intelligence had warned its Dutch counterpart that it had noticed traffic on social media on plans to attack Israeli football fans. For some reason, the fans themselves had not been warned in time by Israel to be more careful than usual when going abroad for a sport event.
The Dutch authorities seem not to have reacted to the warning. Femke Halsema said last week that she had banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations near the stadium. She had also asked the national coordinator for counter-terrorism for a threat assessment but no concrete threat had emerged from this.
The police chief insisted that enough police had been at at the stadium: "800 officers were deployed – an exceptionally large amount for Amsterdam." This might be true but the number was reportedly reduced to a few hundred after the fans had left the stadium. The violence started when the Israeli football fans made their way back to their hotels.
The lack of sufficient police might be explained by media reports since October that some police officers do not want to be deployed to protect Jewish institutions over moral objections to the violence in Gaza. The police management seems to accept this and makes space for officers’ moral objections, unless there is an emergency or urgent situation.
During the preparations that were made for the security of the Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, there were police officers who did not want to be deployed there. The police management commented that everyone in society has the right to police help and protection but it is not clear if any officers have been sanctioned for their refusal to protect Jewish sites or events in Amsterdam.
