The events that took place last Thursday after the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam are being presented by the mainstream European and Israeli media as an ‘attempted pogrom’ against Jews.
Scores of people were injured and dozens arrested in the clashes between Maccabi fans and the Arab and Muslim communities living in Amsterdam.
Some media and politicians claimed that a ‘Jew hunt’ had begun in Amsterdam, and countries outside the Netherlands, notably Germany, condemned the ‘anti-Semitic violence’.
The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, described the attacks as ‘anti-Semitic hit-and-run teams’ and imposed a temporary three-day ban on demonstrations from Friday to Sunday.
It was also claimed that the Israeli government was planning to send a military plane to evacuate its citizens in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a video statement that he had ordered the country’s spy agency, Mossad, to prepare a plan to prevent violence at international events. “I have instructed the head of the Mossad [David Barnea] and other officials to prepare our approach, our warning system and our organization for a new situation,” Netanyahu said.
Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism, tweeted on Thursday night that the attacks were ‘reminiscent of a classic pogrom’, a post that received more than 655,000 views in 12 hours.
The battle within the coalition has begun: Wilders wants expulsion
Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party (PVV), the largest player in the government coalition, was quick to blame the incidents on ‘anti-Semitism’ and ‘irregular immigration’.
While Wilders and the PVV called for the deportation of all migrants involved in the riots, the coalition partner People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and its leader Dilan Yesilgöz rejected this.
“In response to the PVV’s call to ‘expel all rioters in the country”, Yesilgöz said that ‘realistic plans should be made’ because most of these people could not be expelled because they were born in the Netherlands.
Wilders, on the other hand, referred to previous governments and said that the VVD had allowed the country to be ‘flooded with rebels’. According to the PVV leader, ‘anti-Semitism’ has increased as a result.
Speaking to Harici, Manchester Metropolitan University behavioral analyst and YouTuber Thomas Karat, who lives 15 minutes from Amsterdam, said it was ‘reasonable’ to expect Wilders to use the programme to intensify his own anti-immigrant and anti-Islam agenda.
Wilders has built much of his political career on a hardline stance against Muslim immigration and a rhetoric of defending ‘Western values’ against what he portrays as threats from Islamic communities,” Karat said, pointing out that by describing what happened in Amsterdam as a ‘pogrom’ or ‘Jew hunt’, Wilders and like-minded politicians could use this narrative to foment fear and division by positioning Muslim communities as ‘aggressors against a vulnerable Jewish minority’.
Karat argued that by framing the incident in such harsh terms, Wilders was aligning himself with a broader ideological narrative that portrays Muslim migrants not only as incompatible with Dutch values, but also as ‘inherently violent’, and suggested that the ground could be prepared for ‘a kind of reverse witch-hunt against Muslim migrants’.
Maccabi hooligans terrorize Amsterdam streets
However, both Dutch Jewish organizations and local journalists point out that the situation is not as portrayed in the European media.
A report in the Forward, a New York-based Yiddish-English Jewish publication, quotes some Dutch Jews as saying that the incidents were instigated by Maccabi hooligans.
Witnesses said groups of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters spent Tuesday night (5 November) and Wednesday night (6 November) in the city center chanting racist anti-Arab slogans, climbing buildings to remove the Palestinian flag from windows and assaulting a Moroccan taxi driver.
Jelle Zijlstra, a Jewish ‘community organizer’ in Amsterdam, made a post on Instagram that went viral, saying that ‘multiple realities can exist at the same time’.
In her post, Zijlstra drew attention both to the attacks on Israelis and to footage of Maccabi fans shouting ‘F*** Palestine’ and ‘There are no more children in Gaza’ the night before.
In an interview, Zijlstra said: “There was definitely anti-Semitism in some of the incidents. Were Jews attacked in the street? Yes, but these Jews were also violent hooligans.”
New York Times: Everyone agrees the Maccabees instigated the incidents
A New York Times report on the events in Amsterdam stressed that there was no doubt about how the events began.
“Most community leaders in Amsterdam agree on the basic facts,” the NYT wrote, adding, “They largely agree that some Israeli supporters stoked the anger of the city’s Muslim population by shouting inflammatory and racist slogans, including that there were ‘no more children’ in Gaza, defacing the Palestinian flag and vandalizing a taxi.”
According to the report, there was also a consensus that Israeli fans were also subjected to hit-and-run attacks in various locations, often on bicycles and on foot, and that ‘some attackers appeared to have chosen their victims because they were Jewish’.
According to the BBC, some Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have previously been involved in racist incidents in Israel, swearing at the team’s Palestinian and Arab players and reportedly calling for their expulsion.
The team’s fans have previously attacked protesters demonstrating against Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Behavioral analyst Thomas Karat told Harici that terms such as ‘pogrom’ and ‘Jew-hunt’ used by Dutch politicians are very ‘loaded’ words, but news reports and eyewitness accounts cast doubt on these claims.
“News reports and eyewitness accounts show that some Maccabi fans were actively involved in provocations such as aggressive chanting and vandalism of Palestinian symbols, which led to clashes with local groups,” Karat said, adding that this information “undermines the Israeli fans’ narrative of pure victimization” and raises the possibility that Maccabi fans were not only subjected to aggression, but were actually participants and possibly instigators of the clashes.
Karat recalled that some Jewish organizations had also acknowledged this dynamic, suggesting that the actions of Israeli fans had played a role in inflaming tensions.
Dutch intelligence said there was ‘no threat to Israeli fans’
On the other hand, Sheher Khan, a Muslim member of Amsterdam’s city council who was also quoted in the NYT article, said she had asked the mayor beforehand to play the match without spectators.
“If you invite a club from Israel, it will inevitably lead to demonstrations and clashes,” said Khan, who fears violence at the match and is angry that the Dutch government continues to support Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.
According to Khan, the mayor refused the request, and Mayor Femse Halsema’s office confirmed this.
Halsema, a member of the Dutch Green Party, told a press conference after the attacks that she had been told several times by the Dutch national coordinator for security, and counterterrorism that there was no concrete threat to Israeli fans.
Attacks by Israeli hooligans
Tori Eghermann, an American Jew who moved to Amsterdam 20 years ago, said she saw Maccabi fans singing and lighting smoke bombs as she walked through Dam Square in the city center on Thursday night. They were really incredibly well organized and excited,’ she said.
Eghermann noted that violent clashes between locals and racist football hooligans are not uncommon in Amsterdam, pointing out that football fan groups ‘are not known for their peaceful presence in society’.
Israeli fans later clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators, singing ‘F… you Palestine’ and shouting ‘Let the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] beat the shit out of the Arabs’.
According to Ori Goldberg, an Israeli academic who studies sports culture, ‘Maccabi Tel Aviv is the mainstream of the mainstream’. But Goldberg said: “(…) the behavior of the supporters is now very Israeli: the world already hates us because the world hates Jews, so we will take our struggle and our cause wherever we go.”
No attacks on local Jews
Asjer Waterman, who also works as a strategic advisor for a local non-profit organization called Jewish Social Work, spent Friday helping Israeli fans as volunteers moved them to a safe place provided by a Jewish sports club in Amsterdam.
Waterman noted that the violence did not appear to target Dutch Jews or Jewish institutions, but only Israeli visitors.
Still, Waterman said, many in the community were ‘still shaken’.
Amsterdam police publish attacks by hooligans
In addition, the Amsterdam police released a statement giving an account of the incidents and revealing what the Israeli hooligans did.
The police spokesman confirmed that the hooligans climbed a building with a Palestinian flag and vandalized a taxi in Rokin, one of the central areas of Amsterdam.
A Palestinian flag was burned in Dam Square, police said, adding that this happened before the riots started.
Jazie Veldhuyzen, a member of Amsterdam’s city council, told Al Jazeera that Israeli supporters also attacked houses with Palestinian flags.
U.S. envoy: I don’t care if Israelis say ‘let’s kill Arabs’
What is interesting is what was said after it gradually became clear that Israeli hooligans were threatening the streets of Amsterdam and Arab-Muslim communities.
For example, Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism, was quoted as saying that the Maccabi hooligans were ‘bullying’ and saying ‘let’s kill the Arabs’, but told the Forward: “I don’t care what they say, it doesn’t give you the right to kick somebody who’s down and make people say ‘I’m not Jewish’ in order to get away safely.”
Mossad to accompany Maccabi Tel Aviv
On the other hand, the Jerusalem Post (JP) reported on 5 November that Mossad agents would accompany the Maccabi Tel Aviv team on its trip to Amsterdam.
JP quoted the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf as saying that in addition to Maccabi’s regular security personnel, Mossad agents would join the team in Amsterdam to provide maximum protection.
JP also reported that last Saturday a pro-Palestinian protester had been attacked by Ajax fans, known to be pro-Israel, before their last match.
Karat: There are indications of Mossad involvement
Karat made the same point to Harici, stressing that the behavior of the Maccabi fans in Amsterdam was quite different from typical hooliganism.
According to the behavioral analyst, in contrast to the chaotic and disorganized nature usually associated with football hooliganism, these fans acted in a cohesive, almost military style, remaining closely grouped ‘as if guided by a common strategy’.
“This disciplined unity raises questions, especially in light of Israeli media reports confirming the presence of Mossad agents and IDF soldiers among the fans,” Karat said.
Karat argued that the inclusion of intelligence officers with experience in covert operations and espionage, rather than police protection in the event of tensions, indicated a ‘more calculated purpose’ beyond mere spectator safety.
According to Karat, the presence of trained agents indicates the potential to ‘manipulate or provoke events under a civilian guise’ and suggests a ‘deeper agenda beneath the superficial show of fan support’.
