Warning: This video contains images of violence some may find disturbing.
(NewsNation) — The top U.S. government antisemitism watchdog said she is horrified by Thursday night’s violence in Amsterdam in which roving gangs attacked people leaving a soccer match involving a team from Tel Aviv.
“There seemed to be a serious breach of security and response,” said Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
Lipstadt told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that while Amsterdam authorities appeared to do very little during the violence, they are now taking it “very seriously.”
“Today, the Dutch government is responding strongly,” she said.
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Lipstadt would not directly compare the violence to the infamous Kristallnacht, the November nights in 1938 in which Nazis targeted Jews in several cities in Germany and Austria. That, she said, was government-organized terror.
“It (the Amsterdam violence) was a pogrom, but not in the sense of it being government-organized. I think we have to make that distinction,” Lipstadt added.
Antisemitic attacks have been increasing for some time, she said, but they have been “surging” since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israelis.
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“This has been going on in many places, including the United States. We’ve seen it in London. We’ve seen it in Berlin. We’ve seen it in many places. The protestors feel that it’s open season and that nothing is going to happen to them. Unless there is consequences — unless there is enforcement — not only is this going to continuem but it’s going to get worse,” Lipstadt said.