November 2024 Amsterdam attacks

On 8 November 2024, a series of antisemitic attacks erupted in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, following a UEFA Europa League match between the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax.

Riot

Jewish persons, some of whom were Maccabi Tel Aviv's fans, were victims of organized mob attacks across Amsterdam on 8 November 2024. Some victims were stabbed, tossed into the canal or run over by cars. Particularly, The Washington Post released a video of a man being chased by rioters outside the Amsterdam Central Station. The Amsterdam police confirmed that hit-and-run assaults on Israelis happened across the city.

Multiple videos surfaced, one of which featured a victim lying unconscious while being kicked repeatedly by rioters, another featured a victim being tossed into the canal and called a kankerjood ("cancer Jew" in Dutch). Rioters were also filmed shouting "Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF" when they identified Israelis in public.

Aftermath

At least 30 persons were injured, while 62 suspects were arrested. Amid international condemnation, the Amsterdam mayor announced a ban on demonstrations for three days. Riot police were seen patrolling various locations.

As per the Netherland's National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), the riot appeared to have been preplanned on Telegram, with local taxi driver collaboration, contrary to claims that the riot was caused by Israeli misbehavior. Some Israelis hid in the Holland Casino during the riot, whose internal investigation found one of its security guards to have been active in a relevant Telegram group.

Due to safety concerns over reports of taxi driver–rioter collaboration, Rabbi Akiva and Taiby Camissar of the Chabad-Lubavitch in Amsterdam organized cars to bring Israelis to their hotels or the airport for boarding officially arranged repatriation flights.

Reactions

Domestic

Government

Dick Schoof, the Dutch prime minister claimed to be "horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli civilians." Femke Halsema, the Amsterdam mayor, described the riot as a "terrible moment" for Amsterdam. The Dutch government reportedly investigated whether warnings ahead of the riot had been ignored.

Peter Holla, the Amsterdam police chief, said that Israelis had been "outrageously abused", but that his colleagues had difficulty acting against "flash moments [that] spread throughout the city".

Monarch

Willem-Alexander, the king of the Netherlands, was quoted to have said: "We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during the Second World War and last night we failed again."

Civil society

In a The Jewish Chronicle article, Uri Rosenthal, a Dutch political scientist, believed the riot to be a "final wake-up call" that the Dutch government had been too weak on anti-Jewish hate crimes. He also cited the disruption of the National Holocaust Museum's opening ceremony by pro-Hamas protesters in March 2024 as an example of the issue.

Some sources, including the Qatari state-owned outlet Al Jazeera, claimed alleged incidents of Palestinian flags being torn down from random households to be the cause for the riot. However, there is no evidence that the Jewish victims were the same persons involved in the alleged incidents. Meanwhile, the Amsterdam police have been criticized for insufficient policing to stop the violence.

International

Europe

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, classified the riot as a "pogrom" comparable to the Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938. He asked for swift actions against the rioters. The Kristallnacht comparison was echoed by media and advocacy groups.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, emphasized that the riot constituted "vile attacks" and that "antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe." Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, called the riot "horrific and deeply shameful."

United Kingdom

Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the UK and Commonwealth, called the rioters "hateful mobs".

United States

Joe Biden, the sitting President of the United States (POTUS), condemned the riot as "antisemitic", "despicable" and "echo[ing] dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted".

Advocacy groups

Several media and advocacy groups compared the riot to the Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938.

The Yad Vashem expressed deep concern and solidarity with the riot victims. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) also strongly condemned the attacks as "vicious", "antisemitic" and "outrageous". The statement also highlighted that the riot came right before the 86th anniversary of the Kristallnacht, "when Jews throughout Nazi Germany were systematically attacked [...] fellow citizens looked on."

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) strongly condemned the violence towards the Maccabi Tel Aviv's Jewish supporters, while the European Jewish Congress (EJC) condemned the riot as "horrific", demanding "the Dutch authorities to take all necessary measures to protect Jews and Israelis in the country".

In contrast, academically influential Marxist platforms Socialist Worker and World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) blamed the Israeli Jews for the riot, denied the presence of antisemitism and accused Western government officials who condemned the riot of "backing the Zionist regime" in the "genocide of Palestinians".

Related pages

• Racism
• Nazism
• Pogrom
• Fascism
• Babi Yar
• Islamism
• Iron Guard
• List of riots
• Iași pogrom
• Kristallnacht
• Neo-Nazism
• Anti-Zionism
• Antisemitism
• Islamophobia
• The Holocaust
• Islamic terrorism
• The Netherlands
• Jedwabne pogrom (1941)
• History of the Jews in Europe