Another riot in the streets of Amsterdam
Youth claiming solidarity with Palestinians have attacked a tram in the suburb of the capital. They set it on fire, smashed windows, and yelled abusive language.
Tensions have been running high here for days following last week’s violent clashes with Israeli football supporters.
The arrival of more than 3,000 Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last week was not considered high risk by Dutch authorities, although one Jewish activist told police they are widely known for political violence in Israel and many serve as soldiers in Gaza.
“We explained to them that there’s also going to be people who are serving in Gaza, participating in the genocide, and that is another very big risk factor. These are not regular hooligans. For them, coming to Amsterdam was a little bit demonstration, a pro-Israeli demonstration. So it was not only about football,” said Yuval Gal of the Erev Yav Jewish Collective.
A taxi driver who wanted his identity to be protected told us on his lawyer’s phone what happened when he was filming Maccabi’s support of staring down Palestinian flags. “A hooligan dressed in black came to my taxi and tried to drag me out and started to damage the car. Another person came with an iron chain and hit my car several times. I reported this to the police, but they did not take action.”
His lawyer Adem Catbas is documenting other cases of violence and racism committed by Maccabi fans.
Now, an emergency meeting has been called at the City Hall, aiming to provide answers on what exactly happened during last week’s riots. The violent role of Maccabi supporters is becoming clearer and people are challenging the description by politicians of a pogrom against Jews.
Israelis comfortable chanting ‘genocidal hate songs’ during ‘actual genocide’
Orly Noy, editor at the Local Call, an independent Israeli media agency, says that since last week’s violent clashes involving Israeli football supporters in the Dutch capital, “the entire” Israeli media have described the incident as a “brutal anti-Semite pogrom”.
Readers were given the impression that an innocent group of Israeli football fans were brutally attacked, that they feared for their lives and were hiding in different places in the city, she told Al Jazeera.
“How do we get to a place where a group of Israelis feel so comfortable and so confidant to march about one of the major cities in Europe and chant genocidal hate songs while an actual genocide is being committed by their country?” she asked.
Noy added that “there is an incredible amount of detachment” by Israelis who “do not see what the rest of the world is seeing”, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“For over a year, the Israelis are constantly being given the impression by the Israeli media and the Israeli leadership that we are the sole victims, we are the ones under attack, we are the innocent victims. It’s unbelievable,” she concluded.
Racist language used in Amsterdam City Council meeting after riots
The Amsterdam City Council has held a meeting in the wake of violent clashes between pro-Palestine supporters and fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.
Racist language has been used in this debate when referring to the Moroccan community in Amsterdam. We have seen far-right parties going after Mayor Femke Halsema, saying she is not protecting the Jewish community, while the centre and left-wing parties have been asking why she immediately called the riots anti-Semitic without putting them in context.
This has been a very divisive issue. Far-right parties have called for anti-immigration measures and even deportations of people who are born in The Netherlands, while the other camp has been calling for the narrative to take into account the racist chants by Maccabi fans that led to the events.
