Last Thursday, fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv and local residents of Amsterdam engaged in violent clashes before and after a Europa League match against Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
The confrontation spread throughout the city that night. By Friday, authorities reported that five individuals were hospitalized and 62 had been arrested.
The conflict reportedly initiated when far-right supporters of the Israeli team started to chant racist and anti-Arab slogans, targeted Arab and Muslim individuals, and vandalized properties displaying Palestinian flags.
Al Jazeera reported:
In one recording, Israeli fans were captured chanting: “May the IDF triumph, and to hell with the Arabs!” referencing the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza. Another clip showed a supporter yelling: “To hell with you terrorists, Sinwar die, everyone die,” mentioning the recently deceased Hamas leader.
According to a city council member from Amsterdam, the Israeli fans initiated these assaults upon their arrival, targeting Palestinian supporters even before the game started.
“They started by attacking residential properties in Amsterdam that had Palestinian flags. That’s where the unrest began,” Councilman Jazie Veldhuyzen explained to Al Jazeera on Friday.
In response, locals mobilized to defend against the provocations that began on Wednesday by the Maccabi hooligans.
However, both U.S. and international media largely depicted the incidents as unilateral “anti-Semitic” violence against defenseless sports fans:
President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promptly supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s characterization of the Amsterdam events as unprovoked anti-Semitic attacks, akin to historical pogroms or Kristallnacht.
Social media, however, has been active with posts providing the missing context that mainstream media omitted:
@martydoesnotplay
A summary of recent events in Amsterdam, where extreme Zionist supporters from Tel Aviv instigated violence, yet only the reactions to their provocations were highlighted by the media, framed as anti-Semitism.
