Amsterdam bans demonstrations after ‘anti-Semitic teams’ attacked Israeli football fans

On By Pranco

AMSTERDAM: Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from Friday (Nov 8) after overnight attacks on Israeli football supporters by what the mayor called “anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads”, and Israel said it would fly many fans home.

Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi fans across the city had been “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people have been treated in hospital.

Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israel slurs. Some footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday night’s match.

“We saw a lot of demonstrations, a lot of people running. It was really scary,” said Joni Pogrebetsy, an Israeli soccer fan in Amsterdam before the match.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel is sending planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home.

Since then, anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands have increased enormously Israel launched its attack on Gaza following the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on October 7, 2023, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.

Amsterdam banned demonstrations all weekend and gave police emergency stop and search powers in response to unrest that exposed deep anger over the Gaza-Israel conflict.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, 102,000 others injured and millions displaced during Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave, after Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and Israel said it took more than 250 hostages.

Halsema said city police were surprised after security services failed to classify the match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, as high-risk. “Anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads” had managed to evade a force of about 200 officers, she said.

Security was tightened in the city, where a service was planned at a Jewish monument on Saturday. Hundreds gathered Thursday to commemorate Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on November 9 and 10, 1938.