A toxic mix of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia

[reader]

I believe most of us have long thought of Amsterdam as one of the world’s most liberal locations. Think again.

From CNN

AmsterdamCNN — 

Anger, fear and anxiety are still simmering in Amsterdam.

Last week, Israeli soccer fans were attacked in the streets, Palestinian flags ripped off walls and antisemitic slurs yelled during riots.

While the Dutch capital now feels calm, residents and legislators fear that tensions still haven’t peaked.“It’s not only antisemitism, it’s also about anti-Muslim racism. It’s also about xenophobia. We’re seeing a rise of all these types of discrimination and racism,” city councilor Sheher Khan, the leader of a local party that aims to address institutional racism and Islamophobia, told CNN.

“And I don’t even think, I’m sorry to say, that we have reached our boiling point, because the root causes of the tensions going on have not been addressed.”

Khan said the biggest underlying issue for his constituents is the Dutch government’s complicity in funneling weapons and money to Israel’s war in Gaza. The Netherlands’ Muslim community is roughly 1 million people strong, and many have been vocal in their support of Palestinians.

“Next to that, we have a far-right government, which is hell-bent on blaming societal problems on minorities, especially Muslims,” Khan added.

But the timeline of how tensions ignited in Amsterdam is different depending on which community you ask.

Some residents argue the spark was just last week, when Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans pulled down Palestinian flags, vandalized taxis and paraded through the streets yelling racist slogans, including “f**k the Arabs,” and celebrating Israeli military attacks in Gaza.

What followed were violent attacks on the Israeli fans, with several people injured and five receiving hospital treatment. The city’s mayor said last week that rioters moved in small groups in “hit-and-run” antisemitic attacks, searching the city and targeting Maccabi supporters.

On Monday, a tram in west Amsterdam was set ablaze and police officers were pelted with stones. In video circulating on social media, the small group of rioters can be heard yelling an antisemitic slur. Police said Tuesday they had arrested 68 people across the city in total in relation to the riots, including 10 Israelis.

Other Amsterdam residents say a fire has been kindling in the city for 15 to 20 years, with the rise of the far-right, and an increase in antisemitism and xenophobia throughout Europe.

“It’s like a cocktail of emotions, of antisemitism, Muslim hate, the attacks that happened (in Amsterdam), the war in Israel and Palestine,” city councilor Itay Garmy told CNN. Garmy, a Dutch-Israeli citizen, is urging people to be precise in how they talk about the facts of last week.

“I feel some people are underplaying antisemitism by not mentioning it even or saying that because of the Maccabi hooligans that the violence was justified, or that the violence was only directed at the Maccabi hooligans,” Garmy said. He added that fear is palpable among Jewish residents here, especially after last Thursday when social media posts emerged where people discussed a “hunt on Jews,” according to a report from Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/15/europe/amsterdam-violence-antisemitism-racism-xenophobia-intl/index.html

[unicorn]

Well, one cannot condone antisemitism, hate, or violence. That being said, many Israeli fans clearly tried to provoke the Palestinians and other Arabs, and they succeeded:

https://apnews.com/article/maccabi-tel-aviv-amsterdam-violence-protests-palestinian-bcea212281f682098c4c77ef552af5f1

"...Tensions had been brewing in Amsterdam for days ahead of the match. A Palestinian flag was torn down from a building in Amsterdam on Wednesday, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported, and authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium. Ahead of the game, large crowds of supporters of the Israeli team could be seen on video chanting anti-Arab slogans as they headed to the stadium, escorted by police. “Let the IDF win, and fuck the Arabs,” the fans chanted, using the acronym of the Israeli military, as they shook their fists. It also showed police pushing several pro-Palestinian protesters away from a Maccabi fan gathering in a square earlier in the day...". 

Do the provocations justify violence? No. However, the consequences of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slurs and actions could easily be predicted. Most of the 2 million people in Gaza are not Hamas fighters, but rather innocent bystanders. The Israeli fans not only showed a complete lack of empathy and tact, but actually made fun of the innocent civilians. 

 

As Hamas figured out, provocations often lead to consequences.