Dozens of anti-Israel protesters detained in Amsterdam after unrest over soccer match
Dozens of anti-Israel protesters in central Amsterdam were detained on Wednesday for flouting a demonstration ban imposed after scores of Israeli soccer fans were assaulted by a mob shouting antisemitic slurs last week.
Demonstrators swarmed Dam Square with Palestinian flags, chanting, “Free Palestine” and “Amsterdam is saying no to genocide,” before police in riot gear apprehended the hoard of protestors, Reuters reported.
The civil unrest comes after scores of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were ambushed and assaulted in a targeted attack by groups of thugs following a Europa League game against Dutch team, AFC Ajax, late Thursday.
The horrific ordeal left five Israelis hospitalized as the anti-Israel crowd chased down Maccabi fans in the streets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the riot as a “planned antisemitic attack.”
Officials said friction had been growing in the lead-up to the soccer match, with the antisemites who led the attack calling for an organized “Jew hunt” in the city.
Dutch authorities verified that the campaign targeting the soccer fans in the capital was organized, with attackers well equipped with fireworks and other weapons to conduct “hit-and-run” assaults.
Ahead of the game, video showed large crowds of Israeli supporters touting the war in Gaza, shouting, “Let the IDF win. F— the Arabs!,” and “F— you Palestine,” as police pushed several anti-Israel protestors away from a Maccabi fan gathering in a square earlier in the day.
Police also reported incidents where Maccabi fans burned Palestinian flags around the city and vandalized a taxi.
Israel dispatched planes to the Netherlands after the attack to whisk at least some of its citizens home and urged those staying to remain in their hotels and not wear any visible signs of Jewish or Israeli identity on the street until they could return safely.
More than 60 people were arrested before and during the soccer match, officials said, with four suspects remaining in custody.
Dutch police have since detained or removed hundreds more demonstrators who continue to wreak havoc and violate an emergency protest ban enforced by local authorities due to the violence, Reuters reported.
The ban will remain in effect until Thursday.
Antisemitism, vandalism and violence have skyrocketed globally since Hamas terrorists carried out a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to a wider and ongoing conflict in Gaza.
