Leaders condemn ‘anti-Semitic’ football clashes in Amsterdam

Israeli, Dutch and European leaders on Friday condemned “anti-Semitic” clashes that erupted in Amsterdam overnight after a Europa League football match, with Israel sending rescue planes for their citizens.

The violence flared after the game between home team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv that Ajax won 5-0.

Five people were hospitalised and 62 arrests were made as a result of the clashes, police said.

As fans of both teams gathered in Amsterdam for Thursday’s match, police said were on alert and monitoring several incidents including the tearing down of a Palestinian flag from a building.

Violent clashes then appear to have erupted around midnight, Dutch media AT5 reported. 

Social media platforms were flooded with unverified images purported to be of the violence, but confirmed details of the clashes were few.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the clashes and said the “shocking images” of a “pogrom”, reminiscent of last year’s Hamas attack on Israel.

“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands,” Herzog said on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two planes be sent to the Netherlands to bring the Israeli fans home.

The first plane took off from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv heading for Amsterdam on Friday.

‘Horror’ –

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof denounced the “completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis”.

“I followed with horror the coverage from Amsterdam,” Schoof wrote on X, adding that he had spoken with Netanyahu to assure him that “the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted”.

Netanyahu’s office said he told Schoof that he “views the premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost seriousness and requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands”, his office said.

Dutch authorities said they would hold a press conference at 1100 GMT.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “outraged” by “vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam”.

“I strongly condemn these unacceptable acts,” von der Leyen wrote on X.

“Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred,” she added. 

The United Nations meanwhile called the violence “very troubling”.

AT5 reported that numerous fights, as well as acts of vandalism, had occurred in the city centre.

“A large number of mobile unit vehicles are present and reinforcements have also been called in,” it reported. “Young people also allegedly provoked the police”.

Images on AT5 showed Dutch police escorting fans back to their hotels.

Unverified video on social media purportedly filmed on Thursday appeared to show some Maccabi fans chanting in Hebrew: “Finish the Arabs! We’re going to win!”

The Israeli embassy in the United States said “hundreds” of Maccabi fans were “ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game”.

In its post on X, the embassy blamed the incident on a “mob who targeted innocent Israelis”.

Israeli authorities urged their citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotels and avoid showing Israeli or Jewish symbols if they do go outside.

The army said it was coordinating a “rescue mission” with cargo aircraft and medical and rescue teams.

Israel’s new foreign minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that he had requested the Dutch government’s assistance in ensuring Israeli citizens’ safe exit from their hotels to the airport to take the rescue flights. 

A pro-Palestinian rally against the Israeli football club’s visit was initially scheduled to take place near the stadium on Thursday, but was relocated by Amsterdam city council for security reasons.

In another potential flashpoint linked to football, France are scheduled to face Israel in an international match at the Stade de France in Paris next Thursday.

The French government said on Friday the match would go ahead as planned.

The violence in Amsterdam took place with anti-Israeli sentiment and reported anti-Semitic acts across the world soaring as Israel wages wars against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and in Gaza, which have seen massive civilian casualties.