Amsterdam police have made more than 60 arrests after what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans.
A plane carrying football supporters brought home from the Dutch capital by the Israeli government landed on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport after the clashes on Thursday, which took place following a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, described an “outburst” of antisemitism with “hit and run” attacks on the visiting supporters.
“Men on scooters crisscrossed the city looking for Israeli football fans. It was a hit and run. I can easily understand that this brings back memories of pogroms,” Halsema said.
“Our city has been deeply damaged. Jewish culture has been deeply threatened. This is an outburst of antisemitism that I hope to never see again.”
The leaders of Israel and the Netherlands condemned the attacks while a leading Jewish group said the Dutch capital should be “deeply ashamed”.
Police said on Friday they had launched “a major investigation into multiple violent incidents” and that five people had been taken to hospital and 62 arrested. There was no evidence of “kidnappings or hostage takings” but police were “probing reports”, they said.
Officials in Amsterdam said that in several places in the city, supporters were attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks and that riot police had to intervene several times to protect Israeli supporters and escort them to hotels.
Residents and businesses in Amsterdam were shocked by what appeared to be organised small groups of locals chasing Israeli fans in Amsterdam’s city centre after the match.
Theodoor van Boven, who owns the Condomerie, near Dam Square on the Warmoesstraat, said he saw gangs apparently hunting and chasing opposing fans. “What we saw here in the street in the evening and at night were groups of often Dutch groups who were out hunting, who were looking for Maccabi fans. They were on foot in groups, on scooters, riding round looking, and telephoning each other – it [seemed to be] organised.”
“They saw everyone in yellow [Maccabi Tel Aviv’s home-strip colour], they jumped on us,” a young woman, identified only as Pnina, told the Dutch public broadcaster from Schipol airport. She said her group had hidden in their hotel “until it was safe to go outside”.
Ron, another departing fan, said it had been a “terrible night” and “very scary”.
Amsterdam’s police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been “incidents on both sides”, starting on Wednesday night when Maccabi fans tore down a Palestinian flag from the facade of a building in the city centre and shouted “fuck you Palestine”.
Holla said Maccabi had vandalised a taxi, which was followed by “an online call” to mobilise taxi drivers to a casino, where 400 Israeli supporters were present. Police had safely escorted supporters out of the casino, he said.
A social media video verified by Reuters showed Maccabi fans setting off flares and chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs”, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
The police chief said a large crowd of Maccabi supporters had then gathered on Dam Square on Thursday lunchtime and there had been “fights on both sides”.
Before the match, police escorted pro-Palestine demonstrators to an agreed protest location, but said they then split into small groups “looking for confrontation”.
There were no reports of trouble during the match at the Johan Cruyff arena, in which Ajax Amsterdam defeated Maccabi 5-0, and fans left the stadium without incident, police said.
Serious violence erupted later in the city centre with hit and run actions targeting Israeli fans, resulting in a number of “serious assaults”, according to the police, who said the precise number was still being investigated.
Holla defended his force from accusations, led by the far-right leader Geert Wilders, that police had been absent when Jewish fans were being attacked. Holla said he was shocked by what had happened despite police being “maximally prepared”, with 800 officers on duty on Thursday night, large by usual standards.
One Amsterdam resident, Barbara Weenink, said she had found the behaviour of Israeli fans threatening. Weenink, who has demonstrated at pro-Palestine events, said she was warned not to go out with a keffiyeh on that evening. She did not see the events after the match but had seen Israeli football fans before it. “I saw the Israeli fans walking here before the match – I found it very threatening,” she said.
The conflict in Gaza has heightened community tensions across Europe, with soaring antisemitic abuse and attacks. Islamophobic incidents have also risen to record levels.
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In a statement, the office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described a “planned antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens” and requested that security be increased for the Dutch Jewish community.
Netanyahu cancelled plans announced early on Friday to send two military rescue planes to Amsterdam and officials in Jerusalem said efforts would instead focus on using commercial airlines, primarily El Al, Israel’s national carrier.
El Al said on Friday morning that, after special permission from Jewish religious authorities to operate on the sabbath, a first flight would leave Amsterdam for Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon and further free flights would continue on Saturday as necessary.
Netanyahu also said he had ordered the Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent unrest at events abroad after the violence in Amsterdam.
The Dutch prime minister, Dick Schoof, said he was “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli civilians”, calling it “completely unacceptable”. He said he had spoken to Netanyahu by phone “to stress that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted”.
In a social media post on Friday, Wilders, who leads the far-right Freedom party, the largest in the Dutch governing coalition, criticised his own government for a “lack of urgency”. He wrote: “Why is there no extra cabinet meeting? Where is the sense of urgency?”
Wilders, who is well known for his anti-Muslim positions and does not have a formal role in the government, said the Dutch authorities “will be held accountable for their failure to protect” Israeli citizens.
Leaders of Dutch Jewish organisations noted the violence had taken place on the evening the Dutch Jewish community had commemorated Kristallnacht, the 1938 state-sanctioned pogrom and murderous rampage in Nazi Germany and controlled territories that paved the way for the Holocaust.
Chanan Hertzberger, the chair of the Central Jewish Consultation, described “antisemitic gangs who, under the guise of anti-Zionism, have been trying to make life impossible for Jews in the Netherlands for some time”.
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The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “outraged” by “vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam”, while Uefa, the governing body of football in Europe, said it strongly condemned “the incidents and acts of violence”. The UN called the violence “very troubling” while Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said it was “terrible” and “deeply shameful.”
In a tweet, Deborah Lipstadt, the US antisemitism envoy, said she was “deeply disturbed” by the attacks and called for an investigation.
Ajax released a brief statement condemning the violence, saying: “After a sporting football match with a good atmosphere in our stadium – for which we thank all parties involved for the good cooperation – we were horrified to learn what happened in the centre of Amsterdam last night.”
Additional reporting by Jon Henley in Budapest