Israeli football fans attacked by pro-Palestinian attackers in Amsterdam

Pro-Palestinian attackers attacked Israeli fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team on the streets of Amsterdam on Thursday evening, following a match between the Israeli team and the local team Ajax. -daily pogrom.

Three Israelis were missing and at least 10 others were injured early Friday morning. Videos shared on social media showed Israelis being attacked with knives, sticks and vehicles, and the attackers shouting anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans.

A video circulating on social media showed dozens of Israeli football fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in Hebrew as they walked down an escalator. videos It shows Israelis taking down Palestinian flags from buildings.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will send two planes to the Netherlands to evacuate Israeli citizens. IDF announced plans Sending a rescue mission in cooperation with the Dutch government. According to Israeli media, Israel was still waiting for permission to fly as of Friday morning.

Netanyahu demanded action by Dutch security forces and said he had consulted with senior security officials.

“The painful images of the attack on our citizens in Amsterdam will not go unnoticed. Prime Minister Netanyahu treats this terrible incident with the utmost seriousness and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take effective and rapid action against the rioters and ensure the safety of our citizens.”

Netanyahu, who also met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, emphasized that the Netherlands must ensure the safety of Israeli tourists, including the injured, and called for improving the security of the local Jewish community.

The statement of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office described the attacks as a pogrom.

Schoof expressed his horror at the events Publish on XHe said these were completely unacceptable antisemitic attacks against Israelis.

Writing that the perpetrators will be found and tried, Schoof added that there is currently silence in the capital.

Israel’s National Security Council instructed Israelis to stay in their hotel rooms and avoid going out for several hours before informing them that it was safe to go to the airport. The NSC continued to recommend hiding all signs of being Israeli or Jewish and returning to Israel as soon as possible. They also asked Israelis in Amsterdam to download the Home Front Command app, which often sends location-based alerts about rockets and missiles launched into Israel, to receive security updates in the Netherlands.

Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party, described the attacks as a hunt for Jews and blamed the attacks on Muslims, saying that the Netherlands became “Europe’s Gaza” in the 1950s. posts In X.

Arrest and deport multicultural scumbags, he wrote. I’m ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands.

Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chiklin confirmed to Jewish Insider that his office had received advance intelligence regarding a possible attack on Israeli football fans and that this intelligence had been sent to Dutch law enforcement in advance.

Although Amsterdam police on high alert before the football match and accompanied Law enforcement in Amsterdam was slow to react to the violence as Israeli fans marched from the stadium, where most of their hotels are located, to Dam Square, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. Police diverted dozens of Israeli football teams after the riot broke out. Fans elsewhere.

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, US State Department envoy on anti-Semitism. in question he was “appalled by the attacks in Amsterdam tonight, which were grossly reminiscent of a classic pogrom.”

Lipstadt continued: “I am also deeply disturbed that the reported attacks have taken so long, and I call on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the involvement of security forces and how these vile attacks took place.” “In a terrible historical irony, this event occurs two days before the terrible anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht of 1938, when the Nazis sanctioned and pogroms against Jews broke out in the German Reich.”

US lawmakers also condemned the attacks on Israeli fans.

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force. in question He was “horrified” by the attacks.

“Jews face violence and terrorism because of their identity, and we must all condemn this in the strongest terms,” ​​Rosen said. “Ahead of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the world cannot remain silent as antisemitism rears its ugly head.

Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) called scenes “vile.”

“After the Holocaust, we said Never Again,” Britt continued, “but here we are, almost 80 years later.” “I pray for the Jewish people around the world.”

Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) in question he and a group of Jewish members plan to discuss the issue with the Dutch ambassador to the United States on Friday.

“This is outrageous,” Sherman said. “The Dutch government must protect Jews from these attacks and prosecute the attackers.”

Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) said the attacks “nothing but a pogrom”.

“Dutch law enforcement must immediately stop these targeted attacks against Jews,” Goldman said. “Anti-Semitism is spreading around the world, those who speak out against hate need to speak out.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also described He described the attack as a “pogrom”.

“The hysterical and exaggerated demonization of Israel has led to global anti-Semitic vitriol, vandalism and violence. “The most horrific manifestation of anti-Semitism is a pogrom currently being perpetrated against hundreds of Jews cheering on Tel Aviv Football Club in Amsterdam,” said Torres. “Those who incite antisemitism now have the blood of the 21st century pogrom on their hands.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), highlighted that the attack took place days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

“Jews are once again facing anti-Semitism and violent attacks in Europe,” Hoyer said. “I am deeply disturbed by the news coming out of Amsterdam and will continue to work to stop the rise of antisemitism around the world and in America.”

Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) in question He was “horrified” and said, “We must ensure the protection of our Jewish brothers and sisters in the United States.”

Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) joined those who described the attack as a pogrom and questioned the lack of police intervention seen in the videos. He said MPs would “demand answers” from the Dutch embassy.

Jason Greenblatt, an official from the first Trump administration. he said this He added that this incident “should be at the top of the agenda” when Dutch officials look to meet with the incoming Trump administration and that the current administration should “jump into it immediately.”

“This is exactly what ‘the globalization of the Intifada’ looks like,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

“Hateful mobs of people chase and attack innocent Israeli football fans whom they dehumanize as ‘Zionists,’ preying on and brutalizing ordinary people who come to Amsterdam simply for the pleasure of a football match,” Greenblatt continued. “We demand that the Dutch authorities do everything necessary to ensure the safety of Israeli fans, work to capture and prosecute the perpetrators, and apologize for this obscene, unprovoked violence.”

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He said the incident stood out The need to “deport radical Islamists who are not US citizens” has been the focus of messages from President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans about antisemitism and anti-Israel protests in the US

Dubowitz said such individuals endanger all moderates and that “if we don’t act, our cities risk becoming like Amsterdam, Brussels, Malmö and others where violent extremists rule the streets.”

He warned European nations that they “risk losing your countries, your democracies and your way of life.”

Yinam Cohen, Israel’s consul general in the midwestern United States. in question There is a common thread connecting the events in Amsterdam to the attack on a synagogue in Chicago the night before by anti-Israel demonstrators. He also described the Amsterdam attack as a pogrom.

“Both were carried out by Middle Eastern pro-Palestinian mobs fueled by calls to ‘globalize the Intifada,’ spreading hatred against Jews and inciting violence,” Cohen said.