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Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days from Friday and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer supporters by what the mayor called “antisemitic hit-and-run squads”, and Israel said it would fly many fans home.
Young people on scooters attacked Israeli fans in hit-and-run assaults, apparently fuelled by calls to target Jewish people spread on social media, Dutch authorities said. Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi fans had been “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” around the city, and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital.
Videos on social media showed riot police in action, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Some footage also showed Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chanting anti-Arab slogans before Thursday evening’s match. “We saw a lot of demonstrations, a lot of people running. It was really, really terrifying,” said Joni Pogrebetsy, an Israeli soccer fan in Amsterdam.
Tensions had been brewing
Tensions had been mounting in the Dutch capital over Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, even before the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
Amsterdam authorities banned a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium, and video showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans en route to the game. Afterwards, youths on scooters crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing quickly to evade police, Halsema said. In Telegram groups, she added, “there is talk of people going on a Jew hunt. That is so shocking and so despicable that I still cannot fathom it.” Police had to escort some fans back to hotels, according to authorities.
Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, said someone – he didn’t see who – threw a rock at him as he and a friend left the stadium. He was hit in the head, causing light bleeding. He said a group of Arab men began to chase him, before he and his friend got into a taxi, picking up other fans. They took shelter at a hotel. “I’m very scared… lots of friends were hurt, injured, kidnapped, robbed, and the police didn’t come to help us,” he said.
Five people were treated in the hospital and released, while some 20 to 30 people suffered light injuries, police said. At least 62 suspects were arrested, with 10 still in custody, the city’s public prosecutor, Rene de Beukelaer, told reporters at a news conference on Friday.
Israel flies back citizens
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s office earlier said Israel was sending planes to the Netherlands to bring fans home. A plane carrying Israeli football supporters landed Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
Mossad to ready plan to prevent unrest at events
Netanyahu also said Friday that he had ordered the Mossad spy agency to draw up a plan to prevent unrest at events abroad. “I have instructed the head of the Mossad (David Barnea) and other officials to prepare our courses of action, our alert system and our organisation for a new situation,” Netanyahu said in a video statement during a meeting to oversee the evacuation of Israelis from Amsterdam.
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