AMSTERDAM: Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from on Friday (Nov 8) after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the mayor called “antisemitic hit-and-run squads”, and Israel said it would fly many fans home.
Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi 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.
Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Some 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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was sending planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct 7, 2023, 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 Gaza-Israel conflict.
Over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, 102,000 others injured and millions displaced in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave, after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israel.
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. “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. On Thursday, hundreds had gathered to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938.
