for "Vreme" from Amsterdam
The blue and white tram is on fire, the windows are broken by stones. Cannon shots echo. A police helicopter is circling over the vehicle bonfire, fire sirens are screaming.
Men dressed in dark clothes are running, the gendarmerie are clutching their shields and batons. That's how another night of riots looked on Monday Amsterdam.
In the days before that, in particular, there were hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Dam Square gathered even though the mayor Femke Halsema forbade the gathering.
"Halsema, shame on you, there's blood on your hands," shouted the crowd. A strong police force beat and detained the protesters, while passers-by and tourists tried to escape from the chaos.
How it started
It all started with the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday (November 7th). The match is usually between quite friendly clubs, but Maccabi fans are notorious for their hatred of Arabs.
There are reports and videos that before the match in Amsterdam they took down Palestinian flags from yards and attacked taxi drivers, probably of Moroccan origin.
After the game, a crowd of locals gathered to welcome them. Mass fights broke out, including those involving dozens of taxi drivers near the Dutch Casino. Some people ended up in the hospital.
Police escorted the Israeli fans to the hotel, later Israel sent a plane to get them out of the Netherlands.
The media frenzy continued. New York Times wrote about "anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli football fans", and Reuters about "anti-Semitic squads". Jerusalem fast wrote about the "pogrom in Amsterdam", the Dutch media adopted that wording.
Many suddenly cited Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, known for anti-Muslim sentiment and support for Israel's every move. Wilders spoke of "Jew hunting".
Prime Minister Dick Schoff claimed that "young people with a migrant background" were mostly represented in the groups that attacked Israelis.
Photo: AP PhotoClash between protesters and the police
One-sided media and politicians
Organizers of the Dam protest said they had gathered because the Dutch government - led by Wilders' right-wingers - had left them in the lurch as Dutch citizens. And that the media contributed to the hysteria, distorting what happened on Thursday.
It was ignored, they say, that the Maccabi hooligans shouted slogans celebrating the destruction and death in the Gaza Strip and burned Palestinian flags. They believe that the government's response to the events is "racist" towards residents of the Netherlands of Arab origin.
"The media and the Dutch authorities showed only one side of the story," says Boris (23), one of the organizers of the protest.
"They did not convey that the Israeli hooligans came here with a clear message." They came to be violent. They came to shout 'death to the Arabs'. They came armed," he claims for "Vreme".
He is also angry with Mayor Halsema for forbidding peaceful protests, which, he says, are a democratic right of citizens.
Police are still combing social media footage to identify the rioters and the cause of the clash. On Monday, five more men, aged between 18 and 37, were detained for attacking Israeli fans.
Photo: RTL News via APDemonstrators attack the police
Fear of Jews in Amsterdam
But, like Boris, many in the Netherlands believe that everything is happening one-sidedly. After all, the Israeli hooligans have long since left the country.
More and more evidence is emerging that the picture should not have been black and white. Popular young journalist and YouTuber Benjamin Buit (14) published videos showing Israeli hooligans with metal bars and wooden clubs.
Taxi drivers testified that they were attacked before the riots broke out. Dutch police also admitted that Maccabi fans started several incidents. But they were also attacked.
The Jews in Amsterdam are also worried. "I feel very lonely," says Judy, who does not want "Vreme" to mention her last name because she is afraid of hate speech and threats.
She says her husband offered Maccabi fans a ride to the airport because they were afraid to take a taxi.
"I don't know where such deep-rooted hatred comes from." Anti-Semitism is hard to understand, but it certainly plays a role in this situation. As well as the one-sidedness of the media, weak politicians and the fact that protests with hateful messages and anti-Semitic slogans are allowed," believes this Jewish woman from Amsterdam.
Prime Minister Schoff met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Saturday and said he was doing everything to make the Jewish community in the Netherlands feel safe.
