Amsterdam violence: what to know about antisemitic attacks, Maccabi fans' chants

Dutch police arrested three people on Tuesday after a police vehicle in Amsterdam was set on fire and a city bus was vandalized, days after tensions between Israeli soccer fans and the city's Arab population exploded into violent clashes and hit-and-run attacks targeting Israelis.

Police said they opened an investigation after a police vehicle was set ablaze at a police station and people pelted a public bus with stones on Monday evening.

A passing cyclist was also pulled from their bicycle and "hit hard" on the head, police said in a statement. When officers tried to arrest a man at the scene, they were hit with a rain of stones.

Several people were also arrested for holding up posters in front of city hall in defiance a week-long ban on protests imposed in response to the violence.

Chaos broke out on Amsterdam's streets ahead of the game a soccer match between Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and home team Ajax last week.

More: Israeli soccer fans attacked in incident linked to antisemitism in Amsterdam

After Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag and chanted racist slogans, violence overtook the city's downtown. Israelis were targeted in hit-and-run attacks – some people were stopped and forced to show their passports.

World leaders condemned the attacks as antisemitic and reminiscent of anti-Jewish violence of the 1930s and 40s.

"The Antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam are despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted," President Biden said in a post to X on Friday.

Palestinian supporters said insulting chants referencing dead children in Gaza and other incendiary actions by Maccabi fans were particularly inflammatory to Amsterdam's 13% Muslim population.

On Monday, four people arrested for inciting violence during the initial wave of riots appeared in an Amsterdam court. Two minors – aged 16 and 17 – are accused of throwing fireworks at police and attempting to seriously assault an unidentified man. A Dutch man, 19, is suspected of throwing stones at a bus, and a 26-year-old Amsterdam native, was captured on video that appears to show him hit an older man with a belt, according to police.

What sparked the riots?

Police said the clashes began on Wednesday, the evening before the game, when Maccabi supporters tore down and burned a Palestinian flag and vandalized a taxi.

Then, a call to strike back appeared in a group chat between some taxi drivers, according to news reports and unverified screenshots of the conversation posted to social media. One message in a screenshot of an exchange posted by the Daily Telegraph and viewed by the Wall Street Journal called for a regrouping after the soccer game for "part 2 of the Jew hunt."

A group of taxi drivers converged on the Holland Casino, where around 400 Maccabi supporters were grouped, according to Amsterdam Police Chief Peter Holla.

The New York Times reported that a guard at the casino was fired for sending a message on one of the messaging platforms promising to alert others if Maccabi supporters arrive.

Dutch media reported several social media videos that appeared to show Maccabi fans beating a Muslim taxi driver and a Maccabi supporter shoved into a canal.

Police escorted Maccabi supporters out of the casino and managed to suppress larger clashes – by around 3:30 a.m., the peace was restored, Holla said.

But the calm was short-lived.

Clashes broke out and fireworks exploded in central Dam Square the next afternoon, where a large group of Maccabi supporters gathered at around 1 p.m., according to Holla.

Videos posted to social media showed Maccabi supporters chanting expletive-filled and racist slogans denigrating Arabs and Palestinians.

Another unverified video that appeared to show supporters later welcomed home at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv filled in the second part of the chant – there are "no schools in Gaza" because there are "no children left."

During the game, fighting broke out as a planned pro-Palestinian protest descended on Dam Square. The demonstrators agitated for the cancelation of the match because of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza.

The situation in downtown Amsterdam continued to deteriorate later that night after the game finished in a 5-0 victory for Ajax. Police characterized the attacks as "hit and runs."

Videos circulated on social media showed attacks targeting Israelis. One video verified by Reuters showed Israelis dragged to the ground and kicked as one man said, "That's Palestine. That's Gaza... now you know how it feels."

Some people were pushed out of taxi cabs and stopped by people who demanded to see their passports to check if they were Israeli – those incidents continued through Saturday night, according to police chief Olivier Dutilh.

Five people who were wounded stayed in the hospital overnight and left on Friday morning.

Amid the chaos, some people were reported missing and rumors on social media broke out of Israeli "hostages." By Friday, police said all of those reported missing had been located.

How did police respond?

As police scrambled to contain the violence, Amsterdam issued a city-wide ban on demonstrations and enabled police to carry out preventative searches through Thursday.

But pro-Palestinian protesters regrouped in Dam Square on Sunday, chanting "Free Palestine" and "Amsterdam says no to genocide." Police said they dispersed 340 people and arrested more than 50 demonstrators.

Most of those arrested during the clashes and the Sunday demonstration were released – four people are still jailed on charges of violence, including one minor. Amsterdam prosecutors handed public disturbance charges to 40 people, and vandalism charges to another 10.

Meanwhile, Paris is already bracing for violence to break out around a soccer match between Israel and France on Thursday. Police will deploy 2,500 officers around the State de France stadium, and 1,500 additional officers around the city and on public transportation, Paris police chief Laurent Nu?ez told French media.

More: Israeli soccer fans attacked in incident linked to antisemitism in Amsterdam

How did Israel respond?

The violence prompted a swift reaction from Israel's government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched planes from Israel to bring around 2,000 Maccabi supporters home.

In a call with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, "I demanded that he deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and also protect the Dutch Jewish community," he said in a statement on Sunday.

Netanyahu later warned Israelis abroad to stay away from sports and cultural events after he said Israel picked up intelligence of plots to harm Jews in urban areas in the Netherlands, the U.K., France, Belgium, and other countries.

World leaders condemn attacks as 'antisemitic'

The riots prompted widespread condemnation from leaders around the world, some of whom characterized them as antisemitic attacks and likened them to pogroms, violent attacks on Jews, before and during the Holocaust.

"We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again,” Dutch King Willem-Alexander told Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to a readout.

Schoof said on Friday he was "ashamed" that the attacks took place on Dutch soil. "I feel ashamed about what happened in the Netherlands. It has been a dreadful night," he said at a European Union summit in Budapest.

"This is a very dark moment for the city, for which I am deeply ashamed," Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said on Friday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar traveled to Amsterdam to meet with Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel and Geert Wilders, a far-right, anti-Muslim leader of the largest party in the Dutch government.

"Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets," Wilders wrote on X. "Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands."

Some Maccabi fans linked to racist chants

Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv have previously been linked to racism and some violent incidents. The National Israel Fund recorded that the team had the second highest number of incidents of racist chants at its games in the 2022 to 2023 season.

Maccabi supporters reportedly beat a man carrying a Palestinian flag during a match in Athens against Greek team Olympiacos.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Antisemitic attacks, racist chants: how Amsterdam violence broke out