The Dutch Prime Minister has branded football violence in Amsterdam “anti-Semitic” and “unacceptable”, after violent clashes broke out in the city.
Videos circulating on social media showed street clashes overnight after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out following a game between Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
One video showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens. This is completely unacceptable.”
Local police said 57 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff stadium, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.
Police said fans had left the stadium without incident, but clashes erupted overnight in the city centre.
Writing in a post on X, anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, said: “Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable.”
Senior Israeli politicians condemned the violence, with President Isaac Herzog writing on X:”We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam.”
Schoof said he was in touch with Netanyahu about the incident and the city was now “calm”.
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