Femke Halsema used the term to describe the violence which followed a football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Ajax football club.
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00:00The mayor of Amsterdam has backtracked on her use of the word pogrom to describe the
00:05violence which erupted following the Ajax-Maccabee-Tel Aviv football match in the Dutch capital.
00:12Speaking to Dutch state media on Sunday, Femke Halsema expressed her dismay that the term
00:18had subsequently been manipulated to serve political agendas.
00:21I have to say that in the days that followed, I saw how the word pogrom became very political
00:28and actually became propaganda.
00:30The Israeli government talks about a Palestinian pogrom in the streets of Amsterdam.
00:36In the politics of The Hague, the word pogrom is mainly used to discriminate against Moroccan
00:44Amsterdammers, Muslims.
00:45That's not what I meant.
00:50It comes as Moroccan-born Dutch finance secretary Nora Akaba announced her resignation following
00:56comments made by the government's hard-right leader, Geert Wilders.
01:01Last Wednesday, Wilders blamed Moroccans for attacks on the Israeli football fans, claiming
01:07that we saw Muslims hunting Jews and adding that it was fuelled by Moroccans who want
01:11to destroy Jews.
01:14He also said those convicted of involvement should be deported if they have dual nationality.