Soccer Matches Have Become Focal Point of Anti-Israel Protests

The violence that preceded and followed the Europa League soccer match between local team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv last week in Amsterdam continued through the weekend and early this week, putting a spotlight on antisemitism as well as anger at Israel for how it has conducted its war in Gaza and other neighboring regions.

On Monday, 11 November, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema released a letter documenting the incident. It included the warning signs of unrest prior to the match, why and how authorities made decisions as they learned of events and incidents.

“On 8 November, horrifying images shocked the world after the night that Amsterdam had endure,” Halsema said when introducing the letter. “Four days later, anger, fear, and disbelief still prevail. We have seen footage of Israeli football supporters being pursued, attacked, and brutalized; screenshots of antisemitic messages calling for a ‘hunt on Jews’, and videos filled with hate-fueled, racist chants against ‘Arabs’. From the tearing down and burning of a Palestinian flag to targeted assaults on Jewish and Israeli supporters, numerous antisemitic expressions were made. The local authorities (consisting of the mayor, police chief, and chief public prosecutor) explicitly emphasize that violence by one party is never an excuse for violence by another.”

The report noted 62 arrests in the lead-up to and aftermath of the soccer match through the weekend. Most of those were for minor offenses such as disturbing public order. In addition, 49 of the arrestees reside in the Netherlands, and 10 in Israel, with the others undetermined. Four face more serious charges of committing public violence. The report also indicated more arrests were likely as investigations continue.

Some of the notable incidents that took place include:

• On the day before the match, taxi drivers shared locations of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. This included a group of taxi drivers massing outside the Holland Casino when as many as 400 Maccabi fans were inside.
  
  
• Holland Casino said it banned a security guard from the casino after learning the guard had posted messages to a pro-Palestinian chat group that was active during the incident.
  
  
• Screenshots of a WhatsApp group calling for a “Jew hunt” in the city.
  
  
• Amsterdam remained under an emergency order through the weekend and early this week, with all public demonstrations banned and face coverings prohibited in public.
  
  
• Israel arranged for three emergency flights to take Israeli citizens out of the Netherlands and back to the Israel—unusual, The New York Times reported, because the flights occurred on the Sabbath when Israeli airline El Al does not normally operate.
  
  
• On the night of 11 November—four full days after the soccer match—an anti-Israel group with clubs set off firecrackers that started a fire on a tram.

The game between Maccabi and Ajax itself was predominantly event-free, however, international soccer matches continue to be flashpoint of anti-Israel tensions. Earlier this month at a Paris-Saint Germain Champions League match against Atlético Madrid, fans unfurled a huge banner that read “Free Palestine.” The banner covered nearly the entire seating section behind one goal.

Several days later, in a display that was not as huge as the Paris spectacle, fans of Galatasaray soccer club displayed large banners during a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Europa League match, one that read “Free Palestine” and another that said “Let Gaza Babies Live.”

Even before the violence in Amsterdam, the Europa League had determined that the match scheduled for 28 November between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Turkey’s Beşiktaş club would not be played in Turkey because of fears of unrest. On 12 November, the league announced it would be played in Debrecen, Hungary, in an empty stadium. Beşiktaş social media accounts said Hungary was the only country willing to host the match, and only on the condition that there be no fans.

In addition, the French and Israeli national teams are scheduled to play a Nations League game on 14 November. Given the unrest in nearby Amsterdam, authorities plan to dispatch as many as 4,000 security personnel in and around the stadium. French authorities have called the match a “high-risk” event and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau will personally monitor the security preparations.

France is home to both a large Jewish and a large Muslim population, and there were calls to cancel the match, but Retailleau waved them off.

“I think that for a symbolic reason we must not yield, we must not give up,” he said.

French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Michel Barnier, and former President Nicolas Sarkozy are all expected to attend the game.

Israel’s National Security Council advised its citizens to “categorically avoid attending” the match. Ticket sales for the match have been sluggish—only 20,000 tickets in the 80,000-seat stadium had been sold as of 12 November—a fact that media reports attribute to safety fears.