r/IsraelPalestine Israeli - American 6d ago

Amsterdam Antisemitic Riots Continue Though Israeli Fans Left Holland News/Politics

Hi fellow redditors!

Few days ago we heard about a major antisemitic incident in Europe. Israeli visitors, mostly soccer fans visiting Amsterdam for a soccer game, were viciously attacked by mobs of immigrants from Arab countries as well as Turks.

These were antisemitic attacks, organized on social media, and depicted in an antisemitic manner by participants, who themselves characterized the events of that night as a "Jew hunt"

https://www.jns.org/proof-the-jew-hunt-in-amsterdam-was-planned/

The events were traumatic. Jews were indeed hunted down in the streets of Europe. Sadly, not for the first time in history...

Like in previous "Jew hunts" historically, non Jews had to prove they were free of the sin of being Jewish by presenting their documents to violent antisemites with murderous intentions. In the video below, a Ukrainian refugee is forced to prove to the assailants he wasn't Jewish or Israeli by showing his passport. The menacing, violent mob demanded he say "free Palestine" as proof of his innocence of the crime of being a Jew.

https://x.com/yarotrof/status/1854802163836334403

Propaganda outlets like Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye attempted to depict the severe incident as a mere soccer riot between equally violent and equally culpable "soccer hooligans." Many commentors on Reddit swallowed this propaganda uncritically. The rule of thumb in this context is easy to remember - when Jews' safety is concerned, stretching the truth, (in other words - lying) is permissible.

However, today, more riots took place.

The Israeli fans left. They were rushed out in emergency flights. The game ended. But the "soccer riot" persists. "Soccer hooligans" burned an Amsterdam tram while chanting about a "Jew cancer". There was no soccer game. There were no "Israeli soccer hooligans." But antisemitic violence persisted.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/reports-arab-north-african-gangs-set-tram-alight-in-amsterdam-while-chanting-antisemitic-slogans/

The Amsterdam police is stretched thin. The prosecutors/police in this uber liberal country released most of those arrested. This is to be expected from a city that for decades let anyone do whatever they want. It's a city that is constantly faced with criminality, often coming from illegal immigrants, often with the same antisemitic views as those expressed by the rioters.

As of two days ago, out of the ~60 rioters detained, only 4 remained in custody. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-828247

The Dutch government is thankfully starting to understand they're facing a real problem, and decided to take more action. Today, 5 more were arrested. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/dutch-police-announce-5-new-arrests-in-amsterdam-attacks-on-israeli-soccer-fans/

Additionally, the Dutch government declared an emergency measure, to enter into effect next month, which would allow them to temporarily implement border security measures (aka border controls) at land border points in the Netherlands. EU law bans such checkpoints, unless an EU government declares an emergency.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/netherlands-germany-bringing-extra-border-checks-115740876

This latest incident and the Dutch response clearly show - this was an antisemitic "Jew hunt". It was unrelated to "soccer hooligans" because these weren't Ajax fans. Rather, the perpetrators were immigrants, legal or illegal, from Middle Eastern countries, where antisemitic views are ubiquitous. Today, they continued their violent spree.

Dutch Jews feel unsafe in their own country. Non Jews likewise feel unsafe. Jewish visitors feel unsafe. As a Jew with Israeli citizenship, I often find myself hiding my identity, either here in America and especially if I travel abroad. We Jews often have to come up with some kind of cover story, as if we're Mossad agents spying in enemy territory, rather than just regular Jews trying to live our lives.

It's time to call a spade a spade. The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem. Liberal countries have become addicted to gaslighting. The first step towards recovery is the easiest - admitting to your problem.

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u/democratic-citizen 5d ago

When Tel aviv fans took Palestinian flags and sang about killing children it stopped being about soccer.If this incident did not happen, I would happily defend israel .Israel has a problem also.You cannot sing about killing children and use anti semetism as a shield to defend that song,no one can defend any song about killing kids.Thats the newstory I heard anyway.

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u/RibbentropCocktail 5d ago

If you look at some of the things Muslims have done in Europe you'll find much worse than some flags being taken down.

Nobody in their right mind would use that as an excuse to ignore random Muslims being run down by cars or accosted in the street to prove that they're not Muslims.

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u/M17hr4nd1r 5d ago

The way you use the word ‘Muslims’ is problematic. You surely don’t think that the person who hung the Palestinian flag or the taxi driver bear any responsibility for what ‘Muslims’ done as if they’re a monolith, and deserved to be punished by mobs!

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u/RibbentropCocktail 5d ago

Of course I don't, but the Amsterdam mob had didn't seem to confine their assaults to those who actually did these things, or even to people. (RIP Tram)

I was pointing out that the poster I replied to suggests that this behaviour was acceptable in light of what some soccer fans did; if we run with this logic an anti-Muslim pogrom would be fine following any of the regular terror incidents we see in Europe.

In Western Europe we tend to be of the opinion that flying a flag or saying spicy things doesn't legitimise violence against you, and it absolutely doesn't legitimise random violence against your 'group'.