Report: Amsterdam police 'overwhelmed' by 'hit-and-run' attacks on Israeli football fans

New Straits Times

9 hours ago

THE HAGUE: Amsterdam police trying to contain attacks on fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv in November were overwhelmed by assailants' hit-and-run tactics and rapid incitement via social media, according to a report published on Monday.
The violence in the early hours of Nov 8, 2024, followed two days of skirmishes that saw Maccabi fans chant anti-Arab songs, vandalise a taxi and burn a Palestinian flag.
The attacks left five people briefly hospitalised.
Police acted with "great commitment, flexibility and professionalism", concluded the report by an oversight body in the justice ministry.
Authorities were able to deploy 1,200 officers, drones, arrest squads, horses and water cannons but were still caught off-guard by the fast-moving events.
"Although the police acted decisively, they were also overtaken at times by the speed and unpredictability of developments," the report noted.
"Blitz attacks by small groups of rioters, using taxis and scooters to move around quickly and target Jewish people on the streets, made different demands on the approach taken by the police."
Social media was another key factor in making the violence difficult to contain, the report said.
"People were able to spread messages and images at lightning speed, thereby heightening existing tensions," it noted.
"Relatively minor incidents, such as the removal of a Palestinian flag by Maccabi supporters, were shared, interpreted, and magnified within minutes."
The report also criticised reactions in the immediate aftermath of the violence.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog talked of an "anti-Semitic pogrom" while Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema drew parallels between the violence and "memories of pogroms."
She later regretted this, saying the word had been used as propaganda.
"What stands out is the speed with which everyone expressed an opinion in the aftermath of the events," said the report.
"Politicians, administrators and the media immediately jumped to conclusions, without having any insight into exactly what had occurred."
A separate report, from the Institute for Safety and Crisis Management, criticised the lack of official information during the night of violence.
There was an information black-out from around 1.40 in the morning until 9am, meaning rumours and disinformation were rife, said the report.
In December, a court convicted five men for a range of crimes from kicking Maccabi fans in the street to inciting violence in chat groups.
The heaviest sentence imposed was six months in prison, to a man identified as Sefa O. for public violence against several people.
Public broadcaster NOS reported on Sunday that multiple charges against Maccabi fans had been dropped after police were unable to access video footage.
Two women reported separate incidents in the Amsterdam metro but CCTV footage was deleted earlier than usual and was therefore not available to police.
A press officer for the public prosecutors' office confirmed the accuracy of the NOS report to AFP.--AFP