Amsterdam police 'overtaken' by speed of attacks on Israel fans: report
AFP | The Hague, Netherlands
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 November 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."
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