Amsterdam reacts: Unravelling days of tensions that rocked the capital

euronews (in English)

Tensions erupted last Friday in Amsterdam after a UEFA football match, with European leaders widely condemning the violence. Euronews travelled to the Dutch capital to decipher the story.

Transcript

00:00Echoes remain of last week's clashes in Amsterdam between Israeli Maccabi supporters and pro-Palestinian

00:08demonstrators.

00:10Dozens of European leaders condemned the attack as targeted and anti-Semitic, but many took

00:15to social media and claimed the Israeli football fans provoked the violence.

00:21Euronews went to Amsterdam and spoke with representatives of different communities,

00:26revealing that Thursday's incident is much more nuanced than initially appeared.

00:30If you see the images of Israeli people that of course also are partly hooligan and also

00:38really did I think things that were not good in the day before, you really should condemn

00:42that.

00:43And I really can understand that young Muslim people here feel, you know, triggered by it

00:48and want to do something.

00:49I can understand how that works, you know, I don't agree with it.

00:54But then you see as Jews living in Israel or living here in the Netherlands, you see

00:59Israelis being attacked, but being asked by the people while they are being attacked if

01:05they are Jewish.

01:06So you see their, you know, discrimination and it frightens you.

01:10Almost everyone Euronews spoke to felt targeted to a certain extent because of their identity.

01:16Daniela Coronel, a Jewish-Dutch volunteer, helped host Maccabi fans in hotels before

01:22their return to Israel.

01:23She said it was the first time she felt the need to hide her identity.

01:28It's really dangerous to tell wherever that you are Jewish or maybe have Israeli family

01:39or so.

01:40We are really, really scared at the moment about what's going on and about the anti-Semitism

01:47and the Netherlands not really doing something to change that.

01:54Before being attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Thursday, Maccabi fans tore down Palestinian

02:00flags and chanted racist anti-Arab slurs.

02:04Pro-Palestine activist Rose Ikema said Thursday's violence was politically charged.

02:09This was a political action and we cannot use anti-Semitism.

02:15This city is full of people who are Jewish, who are demonstrating side by side to us.

02:20A lot of people felt uncomfortable to even wear a keffiyeh all week because we've heard

02:23about the racist attacks all week and about buildings and people being targeted because

02:28they look Muslim or because they wear a keffiyeh.

02:31Dutch pro-Palestinian groups had urged the city to cancel the match days ahead as a protest

02:36against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

02:39Journalist Bob Snevlitz said local authorities made a few vital mistakes leading up to the

02:44incident.

02:45First of all, banning the legal demonstration because then people would have been in one

02:50place.

02:51The authorities know how to deal with these situations.

02:55And secondly, allowing Maccabi hooligans for two days to roam the streets and intimidate

03:00people.

03:01Meanwhile, Paris gears up to ensure security as Israel is set to play against France on

03:07Thursday.

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