Tensions erupted last Friday in Amsterdam after a UEFA football match, with European leaders widely condemning the violence. Euronews travelled to the Dutch capital to decipher the story.
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00:00Echoes remain of last week's clashes in Amsterdam between Israeli Maccabi supporters and pro-Palestinian
00:08demonstrators.
00:10Dozens of European leaders condemned the attack as targeted and anti-Semitic, but many took
00:15to social media and claimed the Israeli football fans provoked the violence.
00:21Euronews went to Amsterdam and spoke with representatives of different communities,
00:26revealing that Thursday's incident is much more nuanced than initially appeared.
00:30If you see the images of Israeli people that of course also are partly hooligan and also
00:38really did I think things that were not good in the day before, you really should condemn
00:42that.
00:43And I really can understand that young Muslim people here feel, you know, triggered by it
00:48and want to do something.
00:49I can understand how that works, you know, I don't agree with it.
00:54But then you see as Jews living in Israel or living here in the Netherlands, you see
00:59Israelis being attacked, but being asked by the people while they are being attacked if
01:05they are Jewish.
01:06So you see their, you know, discrimination and it frightens you.
01:10Almost everyone Euronews spoke to felt targeted to a certain extent because of their identity.
01:16Daniela Coronel, a Jewish-Dutch volunteer, helped host Maccabi fans in hotels before
01:22their return to Israel.
01:23She said it was the first time she felt the need to hide her identity.
01:28It's really dangerous to tell wherever that you are Jewish or maybe have Israeli family
01:39or so.
01:40We are really, really scared at the moment about what's going on and about the anti-Semitism
01:47and the Netherlands not really doing something to change that.
01:54Before being attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Thursday, Maccabi fans tore down Palestinian
02:00flags and chanted racist anti-Arab slurs.
02:04Pro-Palestine activist Rose Ikema said Thursday's violence was politically charged.
02:09This was a political action and we cannot use anti-Semitism.
02:15This city is full of people who are Jewish, who are demonstrating side by side to us.
02:20A lot of people felt uncomfortable to even wear a keffiyeh all week because we've heard
02:23about the racist attacks all week and about buildings and people being targeted because
02:28they look Muslim or because they wear a keffiyeh.
02:31Dutch pro-Palestinian groups had urged the city to cancel the match days ahead as a protest
02:36against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.
02:39Journalist Bob Snevlitz said local authorities made a few vital mistakes leading up to the
02:44incident.
02:45First of all, banning the legal demonstration because then people would have been in one
02:50place.
02:51The authorities know how to deal with these situations.
02:55And secondly, allowing Maccabi hooligans for two days to roam the streets and intimidate
03:00people.
03:01Meanwhile, Paris gears up to ensure security as Israel is set to play against France on
03:07Thursday.