On the sidelines of a Europa League football match in Amsterdam between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, tensions and violence broke out on the evening of Thursday, November 7. Several Israeli supporters were chased and attacked in the streets of the Dutch metropolis on the night of Thursday to Friday, November 8, facts widely condemned by the political class around the world. Libé takes stock of what we know about this night of violence.

What happened?

Thursday evening, the Johan-Cruyff stadium hosted the Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv. In front of a little more than 50,000 spectators, including 3,000 Israelis, Ajax won by a score of 5 to 0. In the wake of the match and during a good part of the night, clashes broke out, involving Maccabi supporters and young men, with no apparent Ajax signs. In certain videos relayed on social networks we see Maccabi supporters being chased and beaten in the streets of Amsterdam. Some of the attackers ask them, in English, where they come from. Others force them to say “Free Palestine” while beating them. A video shows a man insulting another in Arabic, including insulting him “son of a bitch of a Jew”. The supporters ended up being escorted to their hotels by law enforcement.

According to Israeli media, around ten Maccabi supporters were injured. For its part, the Amsterdam police declared this Friday morning that five people ended up in hospital and that 62 others were arrested, without specifying for the moment the identity and possible affiliation to one of the two clubs.

Tensions that started on the eve of the match

Already on Wednesday evening, the situation already seemed tense in Amsterdam. The city police explained Thursday morning that they had prevented during the night “a confrontation between a group of taxi drivers and a group of strangers.” The Middle East Eye, for its part, speaks of a “Arab taxi driver” who was allegedly attacked “by what appears to be a crowd of Israeli supporters” Wednesday evening. And reports that, on the same day, “a group of Israeli supporters” had been filmed in Dam Square singing «Fuck you Palestine».

Thursday before the meeting, other events, still linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, took place in the Dutch capital, further increasing the level of tension. Several videos show groups (unidentifiable) attempting to take down Palestinian flags hung from windows by residents, some chanting again as they pass. «Fuck you Palestine». In other videos, we see a large group of Maccabi supporters coming down the escalators chanting at the top of their lungs, in Hebrew: “Let the IDF win and screw the Arabs.”

What are the reactions?

This Friday morning, there were numerous convictions. “We see with horror this morning the shocking images and videos that we had hoped never to see again since October 7: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam”Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, announced the sending of “two emergency planes” to provide assistance to Israeli supporters. The new head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, must go there “shortly”.

For his part, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, denounced “unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks against Israelis” and promised that the authors will be “wanted and pursued”. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she “indignant” by “despicable attacks” against Maccabi supporters.

In France too, the night of violence in Amsterdam caused reactions. Benjamin Haddad, the minister responsible for Europe, speaks of a “hunt for Jews on European soil” and calls not to show“no weakness, no cowardice in the face of anti-Semitism”. A large majority of the French political class made similar statements. Éric Ciotti talks about “return from a crystal night”Bruno Retailleau talks about actions “barbarians” Who “are pure anti-Semitism”.

On the left, positions are rarer and less categorical. Guest of the Cnews / Europe 1 morning show, Manuel Bompard declared that “if there were attacks or kidnappings, they are unacceptable”while ensuring that he saw “circulate images” of “racist provocations, tearing down of flags” from Israeli supporters. His colleague at LFI, Raphaël Arnault, from the anti-fascist movement, pointed the finger at Maccabi supporters who are “famous for harboring the largest fringes of far-right, racist and violent hooligans” and who did not come to Amsterdam to “pick daffodils”. To which the environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau responds indirectly, on X: “I read “Israeli supporters provoked” but is it okay to justify violence like that?!”

A France – Israel match even more closely monitored

The incidents that took place in Amsterdam raise fears of similar tensions in Paris in less than a week. Thursday, November 14, as part of the Nations League, the French football team will host the Israel team. The match will take place at the Stade de France and in public, Bruno Retailleau reconfirmed this Friday morning. “France is not backing down because that would amount to abdicating in the face of threats of violence and anti-Semitismhe wrote on X. At my request, the prefect of police Laurent Nunez is making the necessary security arrangements for this match to take place at the Stade de France, as usual. 2,500 law enforcement officers will be mobilized, distributed around the stadium and the Israeli selection hotel. CRS companies will also patrol Paris. Finally, the first rows of the Stade de France, closest to the pitch, will not be occupied, to avoid any invasion of the pitch, another police source told AFP. The Stade de France should not be full in any case, according to this same source.