The mayor of the Netherlands’ capital Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, condemned the attacks on Israeli and Jewish people following a football match between the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team and a Dutch team.
Israeli supporters were beaten and assaulted on the evening of November 7. Halsema said that the attacks were not related to “the situation in the Middle East or in Israel or Palestine,” adding that the attacks had “nothing to do with protest or demonstration; it was crime.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof further condemned the protests, stating that he was “ashamed that this has happened in the Netherlands” and that “it is a terrible antisemitic attack” which “will not be tolerated.”
The attacks were allegedly incited by the behavior of some Israeli football fans the night prior, who chanted anti-Arab statements and burned Palestinian flags. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the State of Palestine said on X that it “strongly condemns the anti-Arab slogans and hostile actions carried out by supporters of an Israeli football club in Amsterdam,” and called for “the Dutch government to conduct an immediate investigation into the instigators of these disturbances and to protect Palestinians and Arabs residing in the Netherlands.”
Following these events, attacks were carried out against anyone rioters thought looked Jewish, according to victims’ reports to the BBC. The attackers shouted “Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF” and “Palestine” as they attacked Israeli and Jewish people, one victim said. Mayor Femke Halsema commented that the riots were reminiscent of Nazi pogroms and made her think of “the night of broken glass,” a coordinated and violent antisemitic attack in Germany in 1938.
The embassy of Israel in the USA said on X in response to the event:
There is no justification for a lynching mob. Israeli soccer fans should be allowed to support their team without fear of physical danger. The days of chasing Jews down European city streets should remain in the dark annals of history.
The freedom of speech does not amount to a a freedom of violent protest, from anyone. The rule of law requires that he legal system must respect the dignity and autonomy of all individuals, and ensure that their rights are protected. These rights necessarily include the free expression and free speech, but also the right to bodily integrity and the right to private life.
