By Christopher F. Schuetze, Jim Tankersley and Rosanne Kropman
Amsterdam officials stated on Tuesday that they anticipated further arrests related to what they termed antisemitic attacks on Israeli football supporters in the city the previous week, alongside associated altercations and incendiary actions from both parties.
According to the city’s first comprehensive report on the incidents, law enforcement indicated that 62 individuals had already been detained in connection with the unrest, including 10 residing in Israel.
The majority of those arrested were charged with minor infractions, police reported: Forty-five individuals received penalties for disturbing the peace, disruptive behavior, or failing to provide identification upon police request. Nearly another dozen cases still face investigation. Four Dutch suspects remain in custody on more serious allegations, including two teenagers charged with assaulting riot officers.
Authorities did not clarify the reasons behind the arrest of Israeli nationals.
Officials noted they were still probing whether the assaults were premeditated.
“What transpired over recent days constitutes a toxic mix of antisemitism, hooliganism, and rage regarding the conflict in Palestine and Israel, along with other regional issues,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema expressed in the report. The findings were scheduled for presentation to the City Council on Tuesday.
The report revealed few new insights regarding the assault and the inflammatory actions and vandalism committed by certain Israeli fans around a soccer game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday.
It defended the mayor’s choice to permit visiting fans at the match and the police response after violence erupted on November 6. Officials stated that 1,200 officers were arranged to maintain order that day and the following Thursday, with at least 500 remaining on patrol after midnight.
Nonetheless, the report acknowledges that law enforcement found it challenging to prevent assaults on Maccabi fans Thursday night after the game, with attackers rapidly escaping on electric bicycles, scooters, and foot. They were also unable to stop some Maccabi fans from vandalizing city property with sticks.
The report elaborates on how, following the events of November 6, the city sought to engage both UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, and the Israeli government to remind fans that the event was a sporting occasion and should “not be intertwined with politics.”
It also outlined that tensions remained elevated in the city — and threats continued to confront Jewish and Muslim communities. Officials reported an incident over the weekend where a man was ejected from a taxi at 3 a.m. for being Jewish. A synagogue received a bomb threat, which ultimately proved to be unfounded.
Officials stated there were online calls to target mosques, and another attempt was made to incinerate a Palestinian flag. On November 6, prior to the match, a group of Maccabi fans stole and set fire to a Palestinian flag in central Amsterdam.
“Antisemitism cannot be countered with other forms of racism: The safety of one group must not come at the cost of another’s safety,” Halsema emphasized.
The report indicates that city officials took additional measures before the game, despite the match not being deemed particularly high-risk. None of the intelligence or terrorism monitoring agencies consulted by the city raised the risk level, according to the report.
Authorities highlighted that the match coincided with the 86th anniversary of Nazi pogroms, which were commemorated at the city’s Portuguese Synagogue. They also noted the allowance of a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium that same day.
Tensions began on November 6, both on social media and on the streets of Amsterdam. The report mentions videos depicting supporters engaged in “racist and hateful chants” targeting Arabs. Police arrested four individuals suspected of spray-painting pro-Palestinian graffiti at the soccer stadium, situated outside the city center, around 11 p.m.
Later that evening, roughly 50 Maccabi supporters, some masked, congregated in a downtown area. They removed a Palestinian flag that was displayed from a building.
The group subsequently dispersed. The police report documented that several of the Maccabi supporters removed their belts to attack the exterior of a taxi. It remains unclear whether anyone was inside the vehicle.
Simultaneously, the report stated a call had been issued on a chat group frequented by taxi drivers to gather at a casino where 400 Israeli supporters were assembled.
On the day of the match, the city urged taxi drivers and ride-share services not to engage in confrontations or allow themselves to be provoked.
Officials reported heightened confrontations around 1 p.m. on Thursday when a substantial group of Israeli fans assembled in Dam Square, the heart of Amsterdam. Fireworks were launched — though the report does not specify who initiated them — but police largely succeeded in maintaining a separation between the groups.
Around midnight, following the game, the report indicated that clashes escalated. A cluster of Maccabi supporters returned to Dam Square, some wielding sticks; several fans engaged in vandalistic acts, according to the report.
At this time, small groups of individuals roamed the city center and targeted individual Israeli supporters who were not part of the larger group. The report notes that police struggled to intervene effectively, as assailants would “briefly strike at Maccabi supporters and then vanish again.”
In a special council session following the report’s release, Sheher Khan, a notable Muslim council member, criticized Halsema for purportedly neglecting the actions of Maccabi supporters. The mayor defended her actions.
“Appalling statements were made” by the fans, Halsema remarked, “but conducting a ‘Jew hunt’ crosses a line. This involves navigating the city in an organized manner, keeping each other informed, checking people’s passports, determining if they meet the criteria deemed fitting for Jews, and then attacking them. That is intolerable.”
Halsema further stated that “significant damage has occurred” in both the Jewish and Muslim communities of the city and indicated that the divides between these communities were uncharacteristic of Amsterdam.
“I hope we can find our way back up again,” she concluded.
