Amsterdam has been declared a “high-risk security area” and has extended its ban on demonstrations until Thursday morning, as the city struggles to clarify exactly what sparked violence in the city before and after the match between Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv and locals Ajax.
The ban was imposed by the city council once the scale of the violence became apparent last Thursday night. It was extended by a court on Sunday but was defied by hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who gathered in Dam Square, despite being urged by riot police to disperse.
The council’s emergency order also temporarily gives the police wider than usual stop-and-search powers – and bans the wearing of balaclavas or other face coverings that could hinder the use of video footage to identify the protesters.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar flew to the Netherlands at the weekend and met prime minister Dick Schoof – formerly head of the Dutch domestic security service – who assured him everything was being done “to ensure that the Jewish community in this country feels safe”.
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Mr Schoof said that given the circumstances, he would not be attending the UN climate change summit in Azerbaijan – but would be consulting with Jewish organisations before a cabinet meeting on Monday about the “social impact” of the violence.
The prime minister added that a full parliamentary debate would take place as soon as possible.
Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema was first to describe the clashes as “an outburst of anti-Semitism” involving “men on scooters criss-crossing the city looking for Israeli football fans”.
However, police chief Peter Holla said there had been “incidents on both sides”.
Maccabi fans, he said, had stolen a Palestinian flag from a city centre building, shouting, “F**k you, Palestine”. They had also vandalised a taxi. Elsewhere, social media showed them setting off flares and chanting, “Olé, olé, let the IDF win.”
As investigations continue, the Dutch prosecution service confirmed on Monday that 62 people were arrested before and during Thursday’s game, which began at 8pm local time. Five people were hospitalised and up to 30 received minor injuries.
Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party, the largest in the four-party coalition, said he was “speechless” that no arrests appeared to have been made after the match at the Cruyff Arena.
Separately, about 50 people were arrested during the demonstrations on Sunday by some 350 protesters.
Israel has said the Dutch security services were warned about the potential for trouble around the match. However, on Monday afternoon, Dutch justice minister David van Weel said he was unaware of any such warnings.
“If we had found anything, I would say so,” he responded. “We are still checking because we want to be certain we haven’t missed anything. So far, we’ve drawn a blank.”
The sense of outrage among the Jewish community was exacerbated by the fact that Saturday evening, November 9th, was the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Nazi pogroms against German Jews in 1938.
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