Posted on: November 8, 2024, 06:21h.
Last updated on: November 8, 2024, 06:23h.
Mass assaults targeting Israeli soccer fans broke out in Amsterdam on Thursday, with one bloody attack reportedly occurring outside of an unnamed casino.
Two Israelis reportedly were beaten by a violent crowd outside of the gaming property. They eventually were able to make it inside the building, according to Ynet, an Israeli news outlet.
Outside of the casino were about 50 rioters, the report revealed. Some were allegedly holding knives and sticks.
Casino security guards locked down the building and Israeli visitors were directed to seek shelter in a downstairs location.
“About half an hour later, around seven police vehicles arrived,” one victim told Israeli news media.
“The police began escorting us out in small groups through an alternate route to avoid the attackers. They didn’t have a clear solution — just told us, ‘Go away and hope everything will be fine.’”
We left in tiny groups. The whole situation was surreal. The city is filled with Palestinian flags, and nearly every taxi driver is Arab. If they realize you’re Israeli, there’s a lot of hostility,” a man identified as Or Shponder, was quoted by Ynet.
It appears most, if not all of the Israelis staying at the casino, were fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team which was playing in Amsterdam.
Widespread Violence
Other violent incidents targeting Israelis broke out in other locations in the Dutch city.
At least 10 Israelis were attacked, according to news reports. Three other Israelis visitors remain missing, the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s leading newspaper, reported. Officials were searching local hospitals to locate the injured.
Many in the mobs yelled out “Free Palestine” and other anti-Israeli slurs as they beat or threatened Israelis, according to Reuters and other news services. Taxi drivers were alleged to have tried to ram into Israelis on Amsterdam’s streets.
As of Friday, 62 of the rioters were arrested, according to the BBC. Local police sent in specially-trained riot officers to apprehend those in the mobs. More arrests are likely.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof pledged the “perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted.”
Israel’s national airline, El Al, was sending two planes to Amsterdam to rescue hundreds of Israeli citizens.
Also, Israel’s National Security Council warned Israelis and any Jews in The Netherlands to “Avoid movements in the street and lock yourself in hotel rooms. The externalization of Israeli and Jewish symbols must be avoided.”
Called a ‘Jew Hunt’
Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch government leader, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam.”
Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets,” he added. “Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands.”
He also pledged that “authorities will be held accountable for their failure to protect the Israeli citizens.”
Unconfirmed reports said there were disputes between Israelis and pro-Palestinian protestors before the violence broke out in Amsterdam. One report said a Palestinian flag was torn down.
Remembering Nazi Attacks
The anti-Jewish violence in Amsterdam came hours after the city marked the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
That was a Nazi-led mass attack in Germany between November 9 and 10 during 1938. Taking place before the outbreak of WW 2, many Jews were killed, synagogues set afire, and numerous Jewish businesses were demolished.