Police are overwhelmed by Jewish-hunting gangs in Israeli soccer supporter 'pogrom' as Netherlands commemorates Kristallnacht anniversary, with officers investigating whether anyone was kidnapped during the riot I am doing it.
Amsterdam's mayor and Green Left party tycoon Femke Halsema was accused on Friday of presiding over Western Europe's first pogrom since World War II after gangs roamed the city looking to attack Israelis. faced demands to resign.
The violent act was called a “riot” reminiscent of last century's “pogroms” by Dutch politicians, including Mayor Halsema, and the powerful figures behind the new government, Geert Wilders, and Israeli soccer supporters. It happened after he arrived in the city to cheer on his home team Maccabi Tel Aviv. When the local match against Ajax was played.
Mr Wilders called the violence the work of “Islamic extremists” and called for the mayor's resignation and the perpetrators to be deported.
A press conference held to address the violence was attended by Mayor Halsema, the police chief, and prosecutors, and discussed the possibility that taxi drivers were involved in the violence. Police said they were investigating the attack as a possible coordinated and pre-planned attack, but there was no dispute as to who was behind it.
Asked whether those responsible were mainly claiming to be “Moroccan-Dutch,” Halsema deflected, saying: “I cannot say specifically what the ethnicity or nationality of these people is. “No, and I don't want to say it,” he answered sharply.
One of the persistent questions about Thursday night's events is the veracity of claims that hostages may have been taken during the chaos. Police spokesperson Chief Peter Hora said there were no clear answers and that while there were no clear answers, the investigation was continuing.
He said: “We have received many questions about the disappearance of Maccabi supporters…While there is no information that there are any abductions or missing persons, we take these messages very seriously and will investigate them.” he said. Several of the missing supporters are currently in contact with their families, and several people have been reported missing to us, which we are conducting an investigation on. ”
Mayor Halsema said of the pogrom itself: “Boys on scooters were riding through the city looking for supporters when they were hit and run, football fans were attacked, then the mob started rioting again and they ran away from the police… A big hit and they were driving through the city. carried out the scooter attack, but they had already disappeared by the time they committed the crime.
She said: “Wars in the Middle East have threatened peace in our cities, and horrific anti-Semitic riots have taken place in our cities. I hope something like this will never happen again.” spoke.
It was revealed that five people were treated for injuries at the hospital, and the remaining 30 people had minor injuries. Sixty-two people had been arrested, with 10 still in custody for more serious crimes as of Friday morning, without specifics being disclosed other than possible charges of “public violence” and anti-Semitism. The rest had already been sentenced to fines for offenses such as setting off fireworks in the city and possessing a knife.
The key question now is how much authorities knew in advance and whether they took sufficient steps to prevent the attack. The risk of football hooliganism was judged to be low for both teams and the match was a friendly, but non-football violence by other residents of Amsterdam, an increasingly multicultural city, was clearly a different matter. The city had consulted with the taxi drivers' union and UBER in advance and warned drivers to explain the situation so as not to cause a “confrontation” with Israeli tourists, but this does not seem to have been completely effective.
Dutch newspapers say that in Amsterdam, as in many European cities, taxi drivers, a profession increasingly dominated by migrant workers, were somehow involved, as well as Israeli victims and local Jews. The human community claims. De Telegraaf states Israelis attempting to flee the Netherlands on Friday refused to hail a taxi to take them to the airport, instead relying on volunteer drivers from the local community.
One volunteer told the newspaper: “After that incident, no one dared to order a taxi or an Uber. ” said an Israeli visitor quoted by the paper. We had a great night at the stadium…but what happened after that, I can't even explain. This is really like hatred. ”
Anti-terrorism police were consulted in advance, and city authorities knew in advance that the match would coincide with the upcoming Kristallnacht commemoration ceremony, so they deployed a large number of police. Halsema said: “It was recommended that we take measures, and we tried to do that. We deployed additional police in several areas of Amsterdam.”
Nevertheless, the police were completely overwhelmed by the highly mobile gangsters on motorcycles. Mayor Halsema said there had been sufficient police presence and that it was natural that “there are international tensions in an international city,” despite being asked by several journalists whether he would resign. They seemed to be ignoring the issue to some extent. , she said she had nothing to resign from.
Other critics have also called on Halsema to resign, including Deutz, who wrote: “The Mayor of Amsterdam must resign today” and who said those responsible for the attack should be exiled. This includes Geert Wilders, an influential politician from the faction. He and others said the violence was the result of “Islamic extremism.”
Israel has sent planes to Amsterdam to evacuate its citizens, and most have now returned home, but the city is still under emergency measures to combat further violence. Halsema said in an update that the law gives police additional stop and search powers, bans demonstrations, bans face coverings and deploys additional police and military to maintain public order. said that it was done.
