The Amsterdam pogrom against Jews: what went wrong? Almost everything

The scenes seen in Amsterdam on Thursday night, November 7^th, are absurd and of extreme concern: a pogrom perpetrated against Jews and Israelis, in the heart of “civilized” Europe and on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Nazis, along with ordinary Germans, hunted Jews through the streets of Europe 86 years ago.

As if that was not enough, some media outlets even tried to downplay the incident, passing it off as clashes between fans and trying to pin the blame on alleged chants by Maccabi fans, as if this would justify the pogrom.

The Israeli supporters were ambushed at various locations, outside the stadium, in different parts of the city where they were chased, thrown in the canals, beaten, stabbed and car rammed; their cell phones and passports were stolen and their personal info spread on the web. One of the attacked fans is heard yelling “I’m not Jewish, I’m not Jewish”, in an attempt to save himself from the Islamo-Nazi thugs. A gruesome and intolerable scene, especially in 2024 Europe.

Other Israeli fans were even besieged at their hotels and apartments, which makes us wonder how the thugs found out their whereabouts. It has been ascertained that a key role was played by accomplice taxi drivers who treacherously led the fans into the hands of thugs and who provided information on their movements, as also shown by several intercepted chats.

The IDF had to send in a rescue mission with a cargo aircraft and two planes from the Hercules squadron with medical and rescue teams to bring the Israelis home. As already initially said, this happened in the heart of Europe, not in some remote African area.

Obviously, the investigations are only in the early stages, and the circle of responsibilities will likely widen. Some of the attackers posted videos of the violence on social media and were quickly identified. According to sources, some of them, once realized they had been identified, attempted to reach Amsterdam airport to flee the country. In the meantime, however, their photos and phone numbers had already been released and passed on to the local authorities.

Security failure

One evident thing emerging is the major security failure on behalf of the Dutch authorities. As reported by De Telegraaf, the “Jew hunt” was announced well in advance on Telegram, prompting thugs to travel from far outside Amsterdam to attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Jewish people.

The Dutch authorities received several alerts from the Israeli security apparatus and replied that they were aware of the situation. The Dutch police chief, Peter Holla stated: “Despite being fully prepared, we were unable to prevent the events. I reflect on 36 hours that have completely shocked me”.

Well, if that was being “fully prepared”, then we cannot imagine what could have happened if they weren’t. It was a multiple-level failure, in both the preventive and interventional stages.

There was no efficient previous and proactive intelligence gathering despite the Israeli warnings. The Dutch authorities were unable to intervene before the events in order to prevent the thugs from taking action.

The presence of agents on the ground was insufficient and especially of riot police units. The testimonies of some Israeli fans indicate that the Dutch police did not escort them from the station to their hotels and the protection was weak to non-existent.

Once the violence began, the police were unable to promptly and efficiently respond to the attacks, as confirmed by the horrendous scenes.

The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, said police had been taken by surprise after security services failed to flag the match against Ajax, traditionally identified as a Jewish club, as high-risk. “Antisemitic hit-and-run squads” had managed to evade a force of around 200 officers.

It must also be said that the number of agents deployed, 200, is insufficient to grant security in such a high-risk event. It is interesting to notice how, while the Dutch police chief claimed that they were fully prepared, Amsterdam’s mayor stated that the police was taken by surprise and acknowledged the security failure.

The police chief also stated that around 800 officers were brought in from all over the country, pointing out that “a size of this commitment is exceptionally large for Amsterdam standards”. That included mobile units, police on horseback, dogs, scouts, arrest units, peace and football units and a “water thrower was ready at the stadium,” he said.

If the active agents on the ground were 800 and not 200, we must ask ourselves where the other 600 had gone. There is a very significant gap in numbers that needs clarification.

Another aspect that seems to emerge is how the police focus was mostly placed on potential clashes between rival soccer factions in and around the stadium, neglecting the serious risk coming from outside. And this, despite the preventive information available to the Dutch authorities.

In addition to all this, it is worth recalling that Holland is experiencing a years-long shortage of police and enforcement officers and just one month ago the Amsterdam city council considered using volunteers in order to solve the problem. As if that was not enough, it is essential to recall how in early October the news of Dutch agents refusing to protect Jewish targets or events over “moral dilemmas” emerged.

Allowing hate to spread: the inaction of the authorities

The Amsterdam pogrom also reflects the inaction on behalf of some European State-member authorities against the spread of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli hatred. Since the October 7^th massacre, Europe has been witnessing constant demonstrations with Israeli flags being burnt, jihadist slogans being chanted, hateful rhetoric being tolerated, and Hezbollah and jihadist flags being displayed. Telegram channels, social network accounts, and various websites systematically divulge anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli content.

In Italy, a list of Jews and non-Jews depicted as “Zionist agents” was spread by a local clandestine Communist faction between August and September 2024. The list was published on the faction’s website (yes, they are clandestine, but they have a website) and, incredibly, it still hasn’t been taken down by the Italian authorities. One of the pro-Pal/far-left activists, Gabriele Rubini, even suggested marking the houses of the “Zionists” and constantly shares pro-jihadist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli content on his Telegram channel (RubiofeatRubio) with over 4650 followers, where he also celebrated the Amsterdam attacks.

In Spain, the Jewish community is terrified by the increasing anti-Semitism and the hateful slogan chanted during the pro-Pal demonstrations. Jewish university students are even afraid to attend classes. In addition, the Spanish government’s anti-Israel stances only make things worse.

The European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) conducted an online survey from January to June 2023 (before the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023) on the Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of anti-Semitism in Europe; the results were quite alarming: 84% of respondents consider antisemitism to be a ‘very big’ or ‘fairly big’ problem in their country. 80% of respondents think that antisemitism has increased over the past five years in their country of residence. 96% have encountered antisemitism in the year before the survey; 64% of respondents who have encountered antisemitism state that they experience it ‘all the time’. 91% consider antisemitism on the internet and social media as a ‘very big’ or ‘fairly big’ problem in their country. Only 18% think that their government combats antisemitism effectively.

The report also includes some data on anti-Semitism collected from 12 Jewish umbrella organizations after the attacks. Some organizations report an increase of 400% or more antisemitic incidents since October 2023. Hate and extremism are the precursors to violence and terrorism and inaction on behalf of the authorities further encourages terrorist thugs such as the ones in Amsterdam.