The antisemites who led last week’s attack on Jewish soccer fans in Amsterdam had called for an organized “Jew hunt” in the city in the hours leading up to the mass assault, officials and witnesses said.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Thursday night’s violence was sparked by people discussing “going on Jew hunts” on the Telegram app following a clash between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the city.
“This is so shocking and despicable that I cannot get over it yet,” Femke told the Wall Street Journal. “It is a disgrace.”
Dutch authorities verified that the campaign targeting fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team in the capital was organized, with the attackers well equipped with fireworks and other weapons to conduct “hit-and-run” assaults.
Israeli financial adviser Ofek Ziv, who was one of the nearly three dozen people injured in the assault, said he was struck in the back of the head with a rock when his group had firecrackers thrown at them outside the metro.
Ziv told the WSJ his assailants “had fire in their eyes” as they chased the Jewish soccer fans with knives and bats.
Maccabi fans also claim their locations were tracked by taxi drivers using Whatsapp and Telegram, with police confirming that some taxi drivers had responded to an online call to mobilize against the Jewish visitors.
Some of the WhatsApp chats to organize the attack were titled “Community Center” with a message for a “PART 2 JEW HUNT” to take place after the Maccabi match.
Telegram said it shut down a group believed to be linked with the Amsterdam attacks, with both it and WhatsApp adding that organized violence is prohibited on their platforms as they cooperate with Dutch authorities.
Those who received the first call gathered at the Holland Casino on Wednesday, where a security guard informed the mob that 400 Maccabi supporters had gathered for the next day’s game.
Shachar Bitton, a 30-year-old Maccabi fan, said she was horrified by the crowd of about 200 people waiting for the Jewish visitors to come out, with two of her friends coming back with bloodied faces after they went outside, according to the WSJ.
Police said last week’s violence was the culmination of heated clashes earlier in the day between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters.
Officials said videos circulating on social media showed Maccabi fans touting the war in Gaza, shouting, “Let the IDF win. F— the Arabs!,” and “F— you Palestine.”
Police also reported incidents where Maccabi fans burned Palestinian flags around the city and vandalized a taxi.
“The unrest that followed was a reaction to this,” said Jazie Veldhuyzen, an Amsterdam city council member.
Despite the unrest and bloody clashes, Dutch police failed the quell the violence when it erupted on Thursday night, with hundreds taking the streets to attack the Maccabi fans.
More than 60 people were arrested before and during the soccer match, officials said, with four suspects remaining in custody.
The violence triggered France to deploy 4,000 officers and 1,6000 stadium staff to maintain peace at a looming France-Israel soccer match to avoid the chaos that occurred in Amsterdam.
“There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,” Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez told French media, noting that his officers “won’t tolerate” any violence.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is set to attend Thursday’s game, said he hopes soccer fans from both teams will come out to portray a symbol of unity “following the intolerable antisemitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam.”
Israel’s National Security Council, however, warned Jewish soccer fans to avoid the game and to be careful of violent attacks “under the pretense of demonstrations.”
With Post wires
