Soccer fan hooliganism is shameful and is something that periodically happens in Europe, though with less frequency now that fans as well as teams are often penalized for such fan behavior. Before and after “important” games or games between rival teams, the vandalism and damage caused is sometimes off the charts – far, far worse than what the Israeli fans did in Amsterdam. I have no problem saying it’s unfortunate and terrible that they acted this way, and if any were caught in the act or identified after the fact, they should absolutely be punished by the authorities. I might have even understood (though certainly not condoned it) if there had been clashes in real time as these activities were taking place.
Make no mistake, though. What happened Thursday night in Amsterdam was a premeditated, well-coordinated, violent pogrom that would have occurred whether or not the Israeli fans had acted as they did. People even traveled from outside of Amsterdam specifically to take part in the attacks! Taxi drivers were sharing the locations of hotels where Israelis were staying with the attackers. The perpetrators gathered in small groups at these locations, ready to terrorize anyone they suspected of being Israeli.
Hundreds of Jews were being chased through the streets of a European city by violent mobs. They were attacked and beaten up. Some of them were run over. Some ended up in the canals, either because they were thrown in or because they were trying to escape. It’s 2024, and Jews are once again running for their lives in Europe, being attacked in the streets and begging people to hide them. If that doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, it damn well should.
Since the October 7th attacks and the dizzying increase in antisemitism around the world, the Jews you know and the Jews you don’t have been terrified. And even as the situation has gotten worse and worse, we are still being gaslighted. We’re still being told it isn’t happening, and our detractors are tokenizing those they perceive to be “good” Jews. We are being told to stop centering ourselves when we talk about what is happening to us, and to stop playing the victim. We are screaming and screaming for help, and no one is doing anything about it. Is it any wonder that we have finally reached a point where there has actually been a pogrom in Amsterdam?
The Dutch king put out a statement that said, “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during the Second World War and last night we failed again.” But they needn’t have failed this time, and the fact that they did is an utterly shameful stain on his country and its leadership. There is no excuse, and the signs are glaringly obvious. Jew hatred and anti-Israel sentiment have become outrageously prevalent and more and more extreme everywhere, including the Netherlands, and against that backdrop, approximately 3,000 Israeli soccer fans flew to Amsterdam to watch an Israeli soccer team play. The city should have been crawling with Dutch police and security forces tasked with ensuring everyone’s safety. Additional security could have been stationed in the areas where Israelis were known to be staying. Online chatter should have been monitored. When will the authorities start taking steps to prevent these kinds of things from happening instead of apologizing for having allowed them to happen? This time it was Amsterdam, but we see what’s happening in other locales in other countries in Europe, in parts of Canada and the US, and even in Australia.
And, for those of you who seem to think that a small group of rowdy Israeli soccer fans (out of the 3,000 who traveled for the game) acting like idiots is somehow justification or provides context, we now know that the attacks on Israelis were premeditated and coordinated in advance, and that there is no connection between the two events. This was Jew hatred, perpetrated by North African and Middle Eastern migrants who seized an opportunity they saw to attack Israeli Jews, made and shared their plan, and came together in Amsterdam to execute it – and no one stopped them. Please spare me your implications that there was somehow a connection—let alone one that justified an act reminiscent of how European Jews were treated during the Holocaust—or that the Israelis were somehow asking for it.
I’ll also point out that people all over the world have been tearing down and burning Israeli flags for well over a year. They’ve been demonstrating and protesting – often in threatening and even violent ways. They’ve been tearing down and ripping up hostage posters, calling to globalize the intifada, calling for the destruction of Israel, attacking Jews and Jewish institutions, vandalizing public and private property… Visibly Jewish people are being threatened, harassed, and attacked in the streets of NYC, Chicago, Toronto, London, and, and, and…
Do you know what you aren’t seeing? You’re not seeing Jews responding in kind. You’re not seeing us responding with violence or revenge. You’re not seeing us physically attacking either the perpetrators or innocent people who might support them or simply have traits in common with them. If Jews did choose to respond to these provocations, though, would you point out the “transgressions” of all the violent anti-Israel/pro-Palestine protesters as if to imply context or justification, or would you condemn it outright?
If you’re appalled by the thought of Jews responding with force to being targeted by Jew and Israel haters on a regular basis for more than a year, but you can somehow find ways to justify violent attackers chasing and beating up on hundreds of Jews in the streets of Amsterdam, that’s antisemitism. And, regardless of your reasoning, your excuses, or your explanations, you’d better believe that I’m going to judge you to judge you – harshly and angrily.
