Dutch youth clashed with Israeli hooligans who provocatively chanted anti-Palestine genocidal slurs in Amsterdam on Thursday night.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that 10 Israelis were wounded and contact with at least two others had been lost following clashes with pro-Palestine activists that followed a Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Amsterdam police said on Friday that five Israelis were hospitalized and 62 people were arrested.
The Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema said on Friday that authorities were still in the process of establishing the full extent of the incident.
Anti-Palestine Provocations The Israeli provocations were reported a day before the match, with Maccabi Tel Aviv fans tearing down a Palestinian flag from what appeared to be the front of a home on Rokin Canal Street on Wednesday, according to the AD daily newspaper.Israel has sent 'rescue planes' to Amsterdam after locals came after and attacked numerous Israeli 'Maccabi Tel Aviv' fans for tearing down Palestinian flags, chanting 'F*ck Palestine,' and mocking dead children in Gaza, before the Champions' League Match against 'Ajax.'
Some… pic.twitter.com/LUPo2Kt2xy
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) November 8, 2024
They tore down a Palestinian flag from what appeared to be the front of a home on Rokin Canal Street on Wednesday, a night before the match, according to the AD daily newspaper.
An Arab taxi driver was also attacked by mobs amid the heightened tensions, although police said they couldn't identify the nationality of the attackers as no arrests were made.
On Thursday, hundreds of travelling Maccabi Tel Aviv fans marched and gathered in different parts of the city ahead of the match.
Fans heading to the Johan Cruyff Arena stadium chanted anti-Arab slurs and a genocidal song, including lines like “no schools in Gaza because there are no children left” and “Let the IDF (Israeli occupation army) win to f..k the Arabs”.
The police have not made any known arrests of the Israeli fans.⚡️IMPORTANT: This is what Maccabi Tel Aviv Hooligans did in the Netherlands that triggered all the violence against them after the authorities did nothing, don’t let anyone twist it.
Israelis are not the victim.
They took down Palestine’s flag and then it all started.
An… pic.twitter.com/NaP3x0Pl9z
— Suppressed News.
(@SuppressedNws) November 8, 2024
Amsterdam Mayor Halsema had also moved a pro-Palestine protest away from the stadium, which was planned by a group of demonstrators who wanted to express their discontent with hosting the Israeli team.
Amid the provocations against Arabs in the city, clashes erupted between the Israeli hooligans and locals before and after the match ended, with some Israelis reportedly hit by a car and thrown into the canal.
Footage shared on social media showed people attacking and chasing some of the Israeli fans.
Other videos showed people clashing with each other and police intervening.
“Anti-Semitic' Attacks Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the clashes “unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks” but failed to mention the assaults by the hooligans against Dutch citizens.
In a post on X, Schoof said he spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and assured him 'the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted'.
Geert Wilders, an anti-Muslim and pro-Israel leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, called the riots a “pogrom” and a “Jewish hunt”.
He also failed to mention the attacks by the Israeli hooligans and instead called for the arrest and deportation of what he described as the “multicultural scum” involved in the clashes.
Israeli occupation authorities ordered that two planes be sent to the Dutch capital to bring the Israelis to the Zionist entity.
'The Prime Minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,' said a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu's office Following the incidents in Amsterdam, Israeli occupation army said it was barring soldiers from flying to the Netherlands until further notice.
“Exceptional requests will be examined individually,” the occupation military added.
Furthermore, Israeli media reported that newly appointed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will depart for an official visit to the Netherlands in the coming hours, noting that he will meet with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp and other senior government officials.