(New York, N.Y.) — Counter Extremism Project (CEP) CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace and Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler issued the following statement in response to a wave of antisemitic violence from pro-Palestinian protestors targeting fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club following a game against FC Ajax in Amsterdam:
These brutal incidents targeting Israelis and Jews in Amsterdam—which so far include violent assault, chasing individuals into canals and not allowing them out until they assent to “Free Palestine,” stealing Israeli passports, looting, and invading hotels accommodating Israeli guests—would be totally unacceptable anywhere in the world, let alone in the heart of one of Europe’s most civilized capitals.
Regrettably, it is not entirely unexpected: Dutch Jews, like Jews across Western Europe, have been advised and compelled to hide any visible indications of their Jewish identity for many years, while synagogues require more protection in Europe than any other religious institutions. Meanwhile, Dutch police have offered only vague statements in response to reports that individual officers are refusing to provide security for Jewish institutions and Jewish events. Antisemitism in the wake of October 7—when 1,200 Israelis were massacred by Hamas—has also surged, and notably in major Western European cities which are home to sizeable communities of immigrants from institutionally antisemitic countries.
It is also clear that these attacks are far from spontaneous. In fact, evidence has emerged that they were organized and coordinated beforehand. The responsible networks must be identified, disrupted, and held to account—an approach that CEP has already outlined and advocated for.
One must ask serious questions of Dutch security forces, who were reportedly warned yesterday by Israeli authorities that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were likely to be targeted. Large gangs, including of North African migrants, rampaged apparently unfettered through the streets, chanting messages of Jihad while hunting Jews in scenes that can only be described as a modern-day “pogrom.” These events in Amsterdam are precisely what the call to “Globalize the Intifada” looks like.
It was almost 86 years to the day that the Nazi Party’s SS and SA, along with German civilians, carried out the Kristallnacht pogrom which killed 91 and destroyed thousands of Jewish-owned properties and Synagogues on November 9-10, 1938. Kristallnacht marked the turning point toward explicit physical violence, and ultimately presaged the Holocaust’s destruction of two-thirds of European Jewry. As Jews in Europe are still made to fear for their safety, even at a simple sporting event, it is apparent that the oft-repeated dictum, “Never Forget,” is simply not enough.
To read CEP’s policy brief on Identifying and Disrupting Key Antisemitic Actors, please click here.
To read more about Extremism in the Netherlands, please click here.
###
