A senior police official warned on Tuesday of calls for more riots in Amsterdam after dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set fire to a tram on Monday night, with the city grappling with tensions following last week’s violence targeting fans Israeli football club.
Olivier Dutilh of the Amsterdam police told a court hearing that «we have indications that there are calls for similar» riots in the west of the city.
The streets in the area were relatively quiet in the evening, and the security presence was modest.
Israeli soccer fans clash with Dutch youth on the streets of Amsterdam after a soccer match on November 8, 2024. X/iAnnet via REUTERS
Amsterdam’s mayor, police chief and attorney general released a report on Monday describing what happened last week, including new details about the actions of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before the Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax soccer match.
Local authorities have not decided to ban the game, but have stepped up security. Local authorities banned pro-Palestinian demonstrators from gathering outside the stadium.
The day before the game, authorities reported incidents and saw social media posts threatening Maccabi fans.
Around midnight, Israeli fans tore down a Palestinian flag from a building in the city center, several took off their seat belts and attacked a taxi, the document said.
Taxi drivers tried to mobilize online in response, focusing on a casino where about 400 Israeli fans had gathered. The police mobilized to avoid a major confrontation.
On the morning of the match, the authorities were «particularly concerned about Maccabi fans and the response of taxi drivers,» the document says.
Anti-Israel protesters walk towards a police line near a soccer stadium in Amsterdam on November 7, 2024. AP
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema asked the Israeli ambassador to explain to officials in Israel «that it is a sporting event and should not be mixed with politics.»
In the afternoon, posts on social networks intensified and anti-Semitic terms were used.
After Ajax’s 5-0 win over Maccabi, parts of a large group of Maccabi fans «run around with sticks and destroy things,» the document says.
There were also «rioters who moved in small groups, on foot, on scooters or in cars, and quickly attacked Maccabi fans before disappearing,» according to the City Hall timeline.
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema asked the Israeli ambassador to explain to officials in Israel «that it is a sporting event and should not be mixed with politics.» AFP via Getty ImagesPeople celebrate as Maccabi fans from Tel Aviv arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel on November 8, 2024. Reuters
The police chief said that these incidents had an «anti-Semitic character – there is talk of hunting Jews and people are asked about their nationality.» Then there were rumors of missing people and hostage taking, which turned out to be unfounded.
Police said the fire was quickly extinguished Monday and riot police cleared the square. Images online show people damaging property and setting off firecrackers.
A police vehicle later caught fire in a nearby street, and police said they suspected arson.
Police said it was unclear who started the riots and whether they were connected to what happened last week. Some of the rioters could be heard on videos shared on social media insulting Jews.
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Police said they had detained three suspects and appealed for witnesses, including an attack on a cyclist who was beaten as he drove past the riots.
The police noticed the tense atmosphere in the city, as on Thursday after the soccer match, five people were treated in the hospital, and several dozen were detained.
According to Amsterdam’s mayor, youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punched and kicked them, and then ran to avoid the police.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof met members of Amsterdam’s Jewish community on Tuesday to discuss anti-Semitism following the violence.
Police arrested a man near Dam Square after hundreds of people protested on November 10, 2024. Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
Reports of anti-Semitic speech, vandalism and violence have been on the rise in Europe since the start of the Gaza war.
Eight people, aged 16 to 37, from Amsterdam and nearby cities have been detained in an investigation into last week’s violence, police said.
Police said they identified more than 170 witnesses and took forensic evidence from dozens. The prime minister said they are also reviewing videos posted on social media.
The mayor banned all demonstrations in the city and declared several parts of Amsterdam as risk zones where the police can stop and search anyone.
Protesters clash with police on Dam Square. ANP/AFP via Getty Images
Dozens were detained on Sunday for taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the center of Amsterdam, which were banned.
Police broke up a small demonstration in front of Amsterdam’s city hall on Tuesday during a discussion about the riots, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.
As incidents of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic abuse rise across Europe, a soccer match between Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam sparked violence and a firestorm of controversy in the Dutch capital.
Investigators are still looking into exactly what happened before and after the game, but officials said it included «rioters who actively sought out Israeli fans to assault and attack them,» as well as rioting and violent acts by some Israeli fans.
Officials issued an emergency decree banning all protests in the city until Thursday, stepped up security at Jewish sites and banned the use of some face coverings.
This is what we know about how events unfolded.
Wednesday, Nov. 6
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have started arriving for Europa League matches, Europe’s second biggest club football competition after the Champions League. (Israeli clubs have played in UEFA competitions since 1992.)
Amsterdam’s municipal safety committee said the match was not high-risk «from a footballing point of view» and that there was «no animosity» between the two sets of fans,according to an official report released on Tuesday. The committee said it consulted the police, teams, football hooliganism authorities and UEFA before making the assessment.
Ajax, the most successful Dutch team, has historically attracted supporters from Amsterdam’s Jewish community, and fans sometimes carry Star of David flags to matches. The club also has many Muslim fans.
While the evening passed relatively peacefully, police monitored aggressive messages on social media and messaging apps threatening Maccabi fans, according to a report by a group of officials known as the Triangle – Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema; René de Beukelaer, Chief City Prosecutor; and Police Chief Peter Holla.
They saw «a readiness to act and in a few cases to mobilize at a specific location,» the report added.
At around 11:00 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. CET), four people were arrested after they painted pro-Palestinian graffiti at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where Thursday’s match was scheduled to take place, the report said.
About 1,200 police officers were deployed in the city.
Thursday, Nov. 7
Early Thursday, a video posted on X and geolocated by NBC News on Rokin, a main street in downtown Amsterdam, showed a crowd cheering as a man standing on a building’s canopy tore down a Palestinian flag.
Some in the crowd chanted «Ole» and «f— you Palestine.»
A police car then slowly drove by, and the fans moved out of the way. It is unclear whether the authorities took any further action.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam on Thursday.Jeroen Jumelet / EPA / EFE via Shutterstock
An official report on the incident said the group then split up, with some heading towards the city’s famous red-light district, shouting slogans. Some in the crowd were reportedly wearing masks.
Some were «taking off their belts» and attacked the taxi. Other taxis were «vandalized» nearby.
After online calls for «taxi drivers to mobilize» went out, some drivers headed to the Holland Casino, where 400 Israeli fans were reportedly present. The police took the fans away in buses.
Police escort Maccabi fans from Tel Aviv to the Amsterdam metro on Thursday.InterVision / AP
According to the report, «relatively small» clashes continued to break out around the casino.
Later, the Triangle discussed canceling the match, but found it «untenable» due to the large number of fans already in town.
At 1 p.m. local time, a large number of Maccabi fans gathered in the city’s central Dam Square, where «police were on standby,» according to the report.
Video shared on social media and geolocated by NBC News shows Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in front of the national monument in the square.
Maccabi fans could later be seen chanting «Death to the Arabs» and «Long live the IDF». We’re going to fuck the Arabs,» as well as tearing up another Palestinian flag.
Pro-Palestinian groups initially planned to protest outside the Johan Cruyff Arena during the match, but Mayor Halsema said at a press conference on Friday that she had moved the demonstration to a remote location.
Amsterdam, like many cities around the world, has been the scene of large-scale protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 43,000 people in the blockaded enclave, according to health officials. Israel’s invasion of Gaza followed the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7,in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 hostages were taken by Palestinian militants.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans staged a pro-Israel demonstration in Amsterdam on Thursday.Mouneb Taim / Anadolu via Getty Images
Shortly before kick-off at 9pm local time (3pm CET), several videos posted on social media showed Maccabi fans jeering, whistling and lighting torches during a minute’s silence for victims of Spain’s deadly floods. The sign on the stadium read «In memory of the victims of the floods in Valencia.»
This led to a lot of criticism on social media, although several Israeli fans interviewed after the match said they did not hear the call for silence.
The match ended around 11pm local time (5pm EST). And after watching their team thrashed 5-0, many Maccabi fans returned to their hotels and downtown.
Friday, Nov. 8
Within an hour of the match ending, security collapsed.
The trouble was expected in part because of messages on social media «confirming that there are groups looking for a clash with Maccabi fans,» according to Tuesday’s report. Officials cited screenshots from messaging apps that called for «Jew hunting.»
Maccabi fans in the area were repeatedly attacked by pro-Palestinian «rioters who were captured and escaped,» according to the report. The police struggled to quell the violence, and some fans were seriously injured.
The report said that unlike traditional hooliganism, in which people associated with rival clubs fight each other, police work was made more difficult because rioters moved in «small groups, on foot, in scooters or cars to attack Maccabi fans. briefly and then disappear again.”
Video, verified by NBC News, showed a man hiding on the ground. «I’ll give you my money,» he said. His attacker shouted: “This is for children! For the children, mother—-r. Free Palestine now.”
Other videos showed people being kicked and beaten in the street. It was not immediately clear who the attackers or victims were.
Meanwhile, around midnight, a larger group of Maccabi fans were spotted in the Dam Square area.
«Some walk around with sticks in their hands and commit vandalism,» the report says.
A video recorded early Friday by Bender, a popular YouTube channel, shows a group of men, some wearing Maccabi fan colors, picking up pipes and boards from a construction site before chasing and beating the man.
Around 2:45 a.m., the Israeli ambassador contacted Mayor Halsema and said there was «a lot of anger» in Israel over the events in Amsterdam.
Videos posted on social media and verified by NBC News showed some Maccabi fans returning home to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport chanting, «Why is school out in Gaza? There are no more children there.”
The violence sparked international condemnation.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was «appalled by the anti-Semitic attacks».
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared the incident to Kristallnacht, or the «Night of Broken Glass,» on November 9, 1938, when Nazi Germany unleashed violent riots aimed at expelling the Jewish community and vandalizing their homes, synagogues and businesses.
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the US special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism, said the violence was «horribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom».
In a post on X, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the images coming out of Amsterdam «horrific and very shameful for us in Europe.»
UEFA, which organizes the Europa League, condemned the violence and said it trusted the authorities to «identify and charge as many as possible those responsible for such acts».
A total of 62 people were arrested on suspicion of violent acts in public, vandalism and disturbing public order, according to the official report. Forty-nine of them were Dutch and 10 Israeli, and the nationality of three is unknown, the Triangle report says, adding that 45 were fined and four remained in prison. Two minors were «suspected of aggravated assault».
Sunday, Nov. 10
After 24 hours of relative peace, police detained 50 people at a pro-Palestinian rally for defying a ban on protests in Amsterdam. Another 340 people were loaded onto buses and dropped off on the outskirts of the city.
Police clashed with protesters during a demonstration on Dam Square in Amsterdam on Sunday.Robin van Lonkhuijsen / AFP – Getty Images
Authorities later extended the ban on protests until Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he would attend the match between Israel and France on Thursday – in a bid to promote «brotherhood and solidarity» following the events in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, Israel urged its citizens to avoid attending cultural and sporting events abroad in the coming week.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel has intelligence that pro-Palestinian groups abroad plan to harm Israelis in cities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and other countries.
Monday, Nov. 11
After riots in Amsterdam on Monday night, broken windows on a tram.Mizzle Media / via Reuters
Due to high tensions, dozens of people set fire to a tram in Amsterdam on Monday night.
Video geolocated by NBC News shows the group throwing fireworks and other blunt objects at the streetcar, with some chanting «Jews are cancer.» Police said it was unclear who started the riots and whether they were connected to what happened last week.
Police announced on Monday that five new arrests had been made over the weekend. The five men, all residents of the Netherlands, aged between 18 and 37, are «suspected of public violence against persons on Thursday evening,» it said.
