Israeli football supporters and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024
Credit: Reuters Photo
Amsterdam: Police in Amsterdam on Friday said five people had been taken to hospital with injuries after riots erupted in the city centre after the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League game.
Police said they were also investigating reports of a possible hostage situation and of missing persons following the attacks on fans of the Israeli team, but could not give any confirmation.
Meanwhile, Israel sent two planes to bring back fans from the Netherlands.
Videos circulating on social media showed riot police intervening in street clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were "attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks" and that riot police had to intervene several times to protect them and escort them to hotels.
Antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands have surged since Israel launched its assault on Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group, with many Jewish organisations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the order to send planes was taken after "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens after the match between Maccabi and Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club.
An eyewitness captured a video verified by Reuters showing a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens", which he called "completely unacceptable".
Schoof assured Netanyahu by phone that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted", he said in a statement on the social media platform X.
Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was "ashamed that this can happen in the Netherlands".
The Dutch Organization for Central Jewish Consultation issued an urgent call for immediate, tough measures.
"The terrible scenes we witnessed last night show that there is no time to wait before taking tough measures", the CJO said in a statement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks.
"Outraged by last night's vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam," von der Leyen said in a post on X, adding she had discussed the matter with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
"I strongly condemn these unacceptable acts. Antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred."
Israel says violence recalls European Pogroms
Police said 57 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.
They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.
President Isaac Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence recalled the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen last year as well as attacks on European Jews in the pogroms of previous centuries.
"We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam," he wrote on X.
Israel's largest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, quoted Israeli fans saying the attacks appeared to have been planned.
The Israeli military said it was sending cargo aircraft to the Netherlands along with medical and rescue teams in coordination with the Dutch government.
The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States, and both Jews and Arabs have been attacked.
In March, the opening of a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam by Herzog led to violent protests by pro-Palestinian activists.
Over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and 102,000 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack, according to health officials in the enclave, after the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israel.
France won't call off Israel game after violence in Amsterdam, minister says
Despite the violence directed at Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, France won't change its plans to host a Nations' League game against Israel next week, the interior minister said on Friday.
"France is not backing down because that would amount to giving up in the face of threats of violence and anti-Semitism", Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in a post on X.
Paris police are planning to deploy over 2,000 officers around the Stade de France to secure the game on Thursday, Nov. 14, BFM TV reported. Authorities are also expected to cordon off an unusually large security perimeter.
The interior ministry and Paris police department did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for details of the exact plans.
Retailleau was meeting with the heads of the French soccer federation and top club PSG on Friday morning following the unfurling of a giant "Free Palestine" banner at a Champions League match this week.