Key Points
- Dutch police have made dozens of arrests after a night of violence in which Israeli football fans were attacked.
- The clashes took place after a match between Amsterdam’s Ajax club and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv team.
- The Palestine Football Association said the violence started with ‘deplorable incitement’ and racism by Israeli fans.
A plane bringing Israeli football supporters home from Amsterdam has landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, after a night of violence in which visiting fans were attacked.
Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a Europa League football tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israel Airports Authority said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered the Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent unrest at sporting events in the future.
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said the city had been “deeply damaged” by the attacks. Source: AAP, EPA / Koen van Weel
Amsterdam’s mayor said the city had been “deeply damaged” by “antisemitic rioters” who she said hunted down and attacked fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in a night of “unbearable” violence.
Mayor Femke Halsema described gangs on scooters targeting fans of the Israeli club, beating and kicking them in “hit-and-run” assaults, leaving five people hospitalised.
Despite a huge police presence, police chief Peter Holla said the hit-and-run tactics of the rioters made it “exceptionally” difficult to prevent the attacks.
He said that 800 officers had been deployed, a very large number for Amsterdam, adding that “we spent weeks preparing” for the match.
Palestine Football Association alleges ‘anti-Palestinian racism’
The Palestine Football Association said the violence had started with the “deplorable incitement to violence, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia expressed by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans”.
It said the Israeli fans had “attacked homes and shops displaying the Palestinian flag” and complained it was still waiting for “concrete action” by world football governing body FIFA in response to the extensive evidence it had presented.
Amsterdam’s police chief gave some support to the PFA’s allegations, saying there had been “incidents on both sides” on Wednesday, 24 hours before the match.
He said Maccabi supporters had “removed a flag from a facade on the Rokin and they destroyed a taxi”.
“A Palestinian flag was set on fire on the Dam,” he added, referring to Amsterdam’s central square.
UN ‘shocked’ by violence
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof denounced the “terrible antisemitic attack”, while European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said she was “outraged” by the “vile attacks”.
US President Joe Biden said the “despicable” attacks “echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted”.
Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club arrive from Amsterdam at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Source: AAP, EPA / Avshalom Sassoni
UN chief António Guterres was “shocked by the violence”, his spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay said.
“He condemns all forms of antisemitism and anti-Muslim bigotry,” she added.
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.
Palestinian militant and political group Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel last year resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,500 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
