Omer Ben Hamo says he was locked inside an Amsterdam casino for three hours by police for his safety on Thursday night, after attackers left fellow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans bloodied nearby.
When officers let them leave, he thought he was safe.
Then his group got ambushed by people asking if they were Jewish.
“They tried to stab us and we fought back and we managed to escape,” he told the ABC at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
“One of them go back to a car and he hit me with the car, pushing me like 20 feet.”
He wasn’t the only one attacked.
Nitai Harel, left, Shaked Pinchas and their friends recalled being confronted and attacked by people in Amsterdam on Thursday night. (ABC News: Andrew Greaves)
Nitai Harel stepped off the metro in central Amsterdam after watching his Israeli soccer team Maccabi lose to Ajax in the Europa League.
He said as soon as his large group of friends split into smaller ones, a mob questioned their heritage and pounced.
“We went to a game to support a team we love and when we go to the hotel we got ambushed and some of them went with knives to kills us,” he said.
A similar thing happened to Ron Meron and his friends, one of whom was carrying a Maccabi flag.
“They were running, shouting at us, spitting at us … when they got near us they kicked us in the back,” he said.
“I didn’t see a weapon but we got beaten, we were humiliated.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv fan Ron Meron before the match against Ajax in Amsterdam on Thursday. (Supplied: Ron Meron)
“It was very scary, we were in a foreign country, we did not see even one policeman,” he said.
The group scrambled to their hotel and refused to leave, too fearful of the streets outside.
They spent the night booking an earlier flight home.
“We did everything we could to avoid another minute in this country,” he said.
Omer Ben Hamo and Natai Harel and their friends also booked earlier flights back to Israel, saying they weren’t coming back.
Amsterdam bans demonstrations, boosts police powers
Dutch authorities said 10 people remained in custody on Friday, following a string of violent attacks that Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema described as “anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads”.
The scale of the attacks remained unclear, but authorities said five people were treated in hospital after being attacked on Thursday night, local time, and others suffered minor injuries.
More than 60 people were arrested.
Police said officers had to step in to escort some Maccabi fans back to their accommodation in the city.
The city banned demonstrations for three days and gave police in the city extra search powers as a result of the violence.
Officials said on Friday that tensions were simmering in the city in the lead-up to and after the match.
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters shout profanities as they go down an escalator in Amsterdam. (Reuters: Michel Van Bergen)
Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said a Palestinian flag was taken down and burned on Wednesday night, the day before the attacks on Israelis.
Authorities said there were also reported incidents between Maccabi fans and taxi drivers prior to the match.
Clips circulating on social media showed Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab slogans while pulling down a Palestinian flag and singing a song with abusive lyrics about Arabs.
In the stadium, some Maccabi fans were filmed interrupting a minute’s silence for the victims of flooding in Valencia, possibly because Spain has been highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters demonstrate and light flares in Amsterdam. (Reuters: Michel Van Bergen)
Other clips uploaded appear to show attackers targeting Israeli fans, in which they yell “Free Palestine”, “this is for the children”, “this is Gaza” and “now you know how it feels” during the incidents.
In one, a man in Maccabi club clothing sitting on the ground begs the attackers to take his money, while they yell “Free Palestine” at him, which he repeats in fear.
One pro-Palestinian group that organised protests against the match anticipated clashes, warning attendees to prepare for “grave violence” on its Telegram channel.
Dutch and Israeli PMs condemn violence
On Friday local time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attacks as a repeat of pogroms on Jews in Europe.
“Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht, when Jews on European soil were attacked for being Jews. This has now recurred,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“We cannot accept this.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the attacks on Israeli soccer fans were a sign of increasing anti-Semitism in the Netherlands.
“We will prosecute the perpetrators and I am deeply ashamed that it could happen in the Netherlands in 2024,” Mr Schoof said on the sidelines of a summit of European Union leaders in Budapest.
Some Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans arrived at the Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday.
(Reuters: Thomas Peter)
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said the city had proud multi-cultural and Jewish history.
“There was a terrible anti-Semitic outburst in our city, and I wish … never [to] see this again in this city,” Mayor Halsema said.
The clashes took place despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration imposed by the city council, which had feared of clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli supporters.
Dutch authorities launch investigation
Authorities in Amsterdam defended the police presence in the city, saying 800 police had been mobilised for the match.
However, most of the violence broke out in the city centre after fans left the match peacefully.
Mayor Halsema confirmed an independent investigation had been launched into the incident.
Some protesters were arrested near the ground before the match, but most of the violence took place after in the centre of Amsterdam. (Supplied: Ron Meron)
She declined to comment on the alleged nationality of the attackers, saying it was a matter for the investigation.
Fans like Ron Meron were left shocked and thankful to be safe.
“There were cases worse than us — we were lucky,” he said.
“If a Jew cannot go safely through the streets of Europe, I think we all as a society need to think … if this is the life we want in Europe.”
He was flying out of the Netherlands when he spoke to the ABC on Friday morning, relieved to be on his way home.
“It was a very difficult situation for me and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Amsterdam again,” he said.
