Israeli hooligans provoked clashes with Dutch youth in Amsterdam on Thursday after they chanted racist anti-Arab slogans, tore down Palestinian flags and ignored a minute of silence for the Spanish flood victims.
The attacks by some of the travelling Maccabi Tel Aviv fans occurred on Wednesday and Thursday in different parts of of the Dutch capital ahead of their Uefa Europa League match against Amsterdam club Ajax.
Hooligans were seen removing at least two Palestinian flags from what appeared to be the front of locals’ homes a night before the match, according to the AD daily newspaper.
An Arab taxi driver was also attacked by mobs who appeared to be with the Israeli fans, although police said they couldn’t identify the nationality of the attackers as no arrests were made.
A group of Israeli fans gathered in the Dam Square on Wednesday were filmed sparking confrontations with locals, shouting “Fuck you” at some of them and “Fuck you Palestine”.
Ahead of match on Thursday, fans heading to the Johan Cruyff Arena stadium were seen shouting: “Let the IDF (Israeli army) fuck the Arabs”.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the clashes “unacceptable antisemitic attacks” but failed to mention the assaults by the hooligans against Dutch citizens.
If a country is actively invading another we usually don’t permit them in international sporting events.
The fans should never have been there, they should never have been welcome until the war is over.
Wow. So the US, France, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands have been regularly banned from international sporting events? That’s cool. Never heard of that.