SPORTS

Israel rescues soccer fans attacked by mob in Amsterdam

November 08, 2024

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.

 

IMAGE: Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters are guarded by police after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Friday, November 8, 2024. Photograph: Ami Shooman/Israel Hayom/Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two rescue planes be sent to the Netherlands on Friday after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight.

Videos circulating on social media showed street clashes overnight and riot police intervening.

 

The order to send planes was taken after "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens following the game between Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, his office said.

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. This is completely unacceptable."

In a phone call with Netanyahu he assured him "that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted," he said in a statement on X.

Local police said 57 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff stadium, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.

Police said fans had left the stadium without incident, but clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.

Israeli media and politicians reacted with shock to the violence, calling it some of the most serious seen since the start of the Gaza war more than a year ago.

The largest-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Israeli fans who said the attacks appeared to be planned.

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 the anti-Semitic 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 in a message on the social media platform X.

IMAGE: Israeli football supporters and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Friday November 8, 2024. Photographs: X/iAnnet/via Reuters

The Israeli military said it is preparing to immediately deploy a rescue mission with the coordination of the Dutch government after the football game, in which Ajax defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-0.

"The mission will be deployed using cargo aircraft and include medical and rescue teams," the IDF said.

Passions have been running high in the Middle East and abroad since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israel.

At least 43,469 Palestinians have been killed and 102,561 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack, according to health officials in the enclave.

The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States and Arabs and Jews have been attacked.

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, condemned the reported Amsterdam attacks in a post on X.

"Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Recommended by Rediff.com

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email