The Poison of Silence

What unfolded in Amsterdam last night should shake Europe to its core. Instead, what we’ll likely get is silence—or worse, a few empty platitudes from politicians who cannot bring themselves to confront the sickness festering in their own societies. After the football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, Israeli fans were hunted through the streets, forced to jump into canals to escape the mobs. This was no spontaneous bout of fan rivalry; it was a calculated manhunt. Ten Israelis are now recovering from their injuries, three remain missing, and the rest are left to wonder why a city in Europe has become a dangerous place simply because they are Jews.

In this instance, silence is not merely shameful; it’s lethal. The attack in Amsterdam is no isolated event. This is the direct outcome of years of complacency and willful blindness to the rise of antisemitism dressed up as “solidarity” with Palestinians. These aren’t mere chants in a vacuum, and the calls to “Globalize Intifada” are anything but benign. They are incitements to terror, handed a free pass by governments that have lost their nerve and, frankly, their sense of decency.

Amsterdam, a city with a robust police presence, still managed to leave its Jewish guests exposed to the wolves. Why? Because the Dutch authorities—and let’s be brutally honest, the rest of Europe—have become so paralyzed by their own hypocrisy and feeble justifications that they cannot protect Jews within their borders. This is not just an issue for Amsterdam; it’s a warning that Europe is once again willing to abandon its Jewish citizens in the name of appeasement.

And make no mistake, this is appeasement. The cowardly tolerance of slogans like “Globalize Intifada” is appeasement. The police in London, who stood by debating the “meaning” of “jihad” instead of stopping incitement to violence, are appeasing. They hide behind empty legalistic jargon, turning a blind eye as a new wave of antisemitism sweeps through our streets. In doing so, they have become enablers. They are allowing the violence of Gaza and Tehran to creep into our cities, painting a target on the backs of our Jewish communities.

Voices have risen on social media rightly calling the Amsterdam attacks an “organized pogrom.” It should be chilling to every European that this happened days before the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, a brutal reminder of Europe’s last horrific betrayal of its Jewish citizens. Back then, we saw Nazi-sanctioned mobs smash their way through Jewish homes and businesses. Now, in the heart of Amsterdam, we see the same hatred rearing its head, rebranded and shamelessly parading as political protest.

But let’s dispense with the pretense. The very politicians who will today wring their hands and mumble condolences are the same ones who have allowed this culture of hatred to thrive. We’re told it’s “complex.” We’re told we must be careful not to offend. But where was that concern for complexity when British police failed to intervene in anti-Jewish marches calling for “jihad”? Where was that caution when social media filled with videos of Israeli fans being ambushed, while Dutch authorities failed to act?

And what of our leaders here in the UK? Keir Starmer and his colleagues are quick to condemn far-right attacks against immigrants—and rightly so. But when it’s Jewish communities under threat, their response is mealy-mouthed, buried under qualifiers. They cannot bring themselves to apply the same decisive force against any form of extremism that targets Jews. Their selective outrage has turned into a grim double standard, where Jewish lives are somehow negotiable, where threats against them are tolerated in the name of “free speech.”

This is the reality: the silence from our leaders has allowed hatred to fester, spreading like a cancer that will not stop at the Jews. As Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned, today’s victims are Israelis, but “tomorrow it will be you Europeans.” If we let this slide, if we fail to act decisively, it is only a matter of time before this violence sweeps further into our own streets.

To those who think this is someone else’s problem: look closer. Amsterdam’s failure is our failure, Europe’s failure, a catastrophic collapse of moral responsibility. The question is no longer if what happened in Amsterdam will happen here, but when. And when it does, it will be too late for hand-wringing and statements of shock. Jews in the UK and across Europe are watching. Many are wondering if they have a future in a society that treats them as expendable.

Let us be clear: the time for feeble words and selective condemnation is over. If our leaders won’t confront the rising tide of antisemitic hatred in Europe, then they are not leaders at all. They are bystanders, content to watch as this venom poisons everything it touches. And in their failure, they betray not just the Jewish communities but every value of a civilized society.