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Israeli soccer fans clashed with apparently pro-Palestinian protesters before and after a UEFA Europa League match between their team Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.
Clashes took place outside the Johan Cruyff Arena on Thursday night, the city’s main arena and Ajax’s stadium, as well as in other areas of the city.
Ajax won the game 5:0. Reporting from Amsterdam, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said the clashes were the result of rising tensions in the past few days.
“Hundreds of Maccabi fans came to Amsterdam, held a very loud rally in the main square before the riots, waving Israeli flags and taking down the Palestinian flag,” she said.
Police announced on social media on Thursday that they were being extra vigilant following political incidents, including the removal of a Palestinian flag from a building. Videos on social media captured the incident, where Israeli fans can be seen chanting slogans as one person removes the flag.
Pre-match videos showed scores of Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slogans.
Israeli fans sparked violence after arriving in the city and attacked Palestinian supporters before the game, a member of the Amsterdam City Council said.
“They started attacking people’s houses in Amsterdam with Palestinian flags, so that’s where the violence actually started,” councilor Jazie Veldhuyzen told Al Jazeera on Friday.
“In reaction, the residents of Amsterdam mobilized and opposed the attacks that started on Wednesday by the hooligans of Maccabi”.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that ten Israelis were injured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not clarify what led to what he called a “very violent incident against Israeli citizens.”
Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office on Friday that he “views the terrible incident with the utmost seriousness and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take strong and swift action against the rioters and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
Amsterdam resident and activist Mo Kotesh said Israeli fans attacked innocent people on the streets, property and taxi drivers on Wednesday, and took down the Palestinian flag.
Kotesh, from the Palestinian community in the Netherlands, told Al Jazeera that its members, on instructions from the municipality, had gone to an area near the central Dam Square to hold peaceful protests the day before the match. He said he saw the locals trying to resist the violence started against them by the Israeli fans.
The Israeli “hooligans” sang songs insulting the Arabs, chanting: “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no more children.”
Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg said the incident shows that the Israeli narrative has taken over Europe.
“The fact that Israeli fans are rioting in the middle of Amsterdam, singing racist songs and climbing houses to take down Palestinian flags… is part of Israel’s condition at the moment – the disconnect between actions and consequences,” he told Al Jazeera.
Vaessen reported that Friday was quiet in Amsterdam.
Arrests and injuries
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema has banned pro-Palestinian protests over concerns about tensions between protesters and supporters of an Israeli club. About 600 police officers were deployed after the riots broke out, Vaessen reported, adding that more people were injured.
On Friday, the police announced that 62 people had been arrested. Pro-Palestinian protesters tried to reach the stadium, Vaessen says.
According to police information, fans left the stadium without incident, but several clashes were reported in the city center during the night.
According to Veldhuyzen, a member of the Council, “the mayor said that the police acted, but I would say that they did not act at the right moments”.
“They only acted to protect Maccabi’s hooligans when the Amsterdammers rose up to defend their own people and their own house. “And then the police showed up to protect the Maccabi fans when they ran away after the attack on the people,” Al Jazeeri said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that he followed the news of the riots with “horror”, adding that “the perpetrators will be found and prosecuted”. In a post on social media platform X on Friday, Schoof said: “Totally unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with everyone involved”.
Condemnation of UEFA
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar “stressed the seriousness with which Israel views the widespread attacks on its citizens across Amsterdam,” Israel’s foreign ministry said.
Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, said Israel’s reaction to the clashes reflected “a complete rejection of the idea that actions have consequences,” given the actions of Israeli fans in Amsterdam.
The Israeli club was founded in 1906 in Jaffa, which today is part of Tel Aviv. This season, it is at the bottom of the European League table, in 35th out of 36th place.
They will play their next match in the European League against the Turkish Besiktas from Istanbul. However, following the decision of the Turkish authorities, the match will be played at a “neutral location”.
On Friday, UEFA condemned the “acts of violence” before and after the match.
“We believe that the competent authorities will identify and charge as many of those responsible for such actions as possible,” the statement reads.
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