Israeli soccer fans targeted in wave of violence in Amsterdam
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC supporters were reportedly the target of violence in Amsterdam Thursday before and during the soccer team’s match against Ajax.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show multiple fights in streets.
Spanish media reported earlier in the week anti-Israel agitators would protest outside the stadium where the match was being played, targeting the club and its fans.
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Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, gave an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday night.
“We are seeing a pogrom against Jews and Israelis unfold in Amsterdam,” Danon said. “In 2024. This must stop. ‘Globalize the intifada’ was not just a slogan for these terrorist supporters. I urge the Dutch government to help all Israelis and Jewish people immediately. It’s time to respond with force against these barbaric rioters.”
Danon also elaborated and posted a video on X
“We are receiving very disturbing reports of extreme violence against Israelis and Jews on the streets of Holland,” he wrote. “There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024. These are the true faces of the supporters of the radical terrorism we are fighting. The western world needs to wake up now!!
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
“This is the time when the UN should immediately and clearly condemn the violence of the Palestinians and their supporters. The Dutch authorities must take decisive action against terrorism now.”
ISRAEL TAKES HARD LINE AGAINST TERRORISTS, ALLOWING DEPORTATION OF FAMILY MEMBERS
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on Dutch authorities to act.
The Embassy of Israel to the U.S. also posted a graphic video of the violence.
“Hundreds of fans of the @MaccabiTLVFC soccer team were ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game against @AFCAjax. The mob who targeted these innocent Israelis has proudly shared their violent acts on social media.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., condemned the violence as well.
“The hysterical and hyperbolic demonization of Israel has led to a global outbreak of antisemitic vitriol, vandalism, and violence,” he wrote on X. “The single most monstrous manifestation of antisemitism is a pogrom that is presently unfolding against hundreds of Jews who were cheering on the Tel Aviv Football Club in Amsterdam.
“Those inciting antisemitism now have the blood of a 21st-century pogrom on their hands. The situation is so dire that the Israeli government is dispatching rescue teams for Jews in danger. I am sick to my stomach that a pogrom is happening in the 21st century.”
Dozens of arrests were made Thursday night, most before the match, the Netherlands’ RTL reported.
“There have been disturbances, including on the Dam,” a Dutch national police spokesperson told the outlet. “We cannot indicate who belongs to whom. The groups are not easy to distinguish from each other, almost all of them are wearing dark clothes.”
The incidents occurred 13 months after Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel, killing and kidnapping hundreds.
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The Jerusalem Post noted the attacks came hours after the Netherlands commemorated the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Fox News’ Ben Evansky contributed to this report.
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