Amsterdam Mayor Survives Calls For Resignation Despite Antisemitic Riots

By Worthy News Stefan J. Bos with reporting by Worthy News’ Johan Th. Bos in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema survived calls for her resignation despite the Dutch capital’s first pogrom against Jews since World War Two.

Numerous Jewish people were injured following Thursday’s soccer match between Amsterdam’s Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv teams when Arab Muslims hunted for Jews, witnesses said.

At a tense emergency debate by the municipal council about the violence, Halsema denied warnings had been underestimated.

“There was no underestimation,” Halsema said firmly. “We knew there were antisemitic voices. That is something different than going on a Jews hunt.”

She described the assaults as “a kind of urban terror by boys on scooters who drove from pillar to post.” In this, “not exclusively Israeli supporters” were attacked, she added.

Those words did little to convince critics, but the majority in the council, including the mayor’s GroenLinks (GreenLeft) party, supported her.

The debate came just hours after Amsterdam public transport organization GVB confirmed Tuesday that a bomb exploded overnight, damaging a tram or streetcar, at Square ‘40-’45.

ATTACKING TRAM

Rioters of Arab descent could be seen throwing objects at the burning tram and shouting antisemitic slogans such as “cancer Jews.”
Ahead of the attack, the tram driver “was called by our traffic control to stop so that the passengers and our employees could get out. A brave volunteer tram driver – accompanied by the police – drove the tram away, empty,” the GVB said in a statement seen by Worthy News.

However, “Our employees are currently receiving full aftercare. You should not underestimate the enormous mental impact that this event has had on them.”

In footage related to previous violence reviewed by Worthy News, a man with a Moroccan accent can be heard saying, “We are going to hunt for Jews,” words that have shocked the Jewish community.

“There have been reports that Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans misbehaved and provoked some violence by withdrawing a Palestinian flag and shouting reprehensible slogans against Arabs. But that is different than calling for hunting Jews,” Halsema said.

She suggested that anger about the policies of the Israeli government in Gaza should not be turned into antisemitism.

Violence also spread to Belgium, including in the city of Antwerp, where at least five persons were detained for allegedly planning “to hunt for Jews.” Footage emerged of a Jewish cyclist being attacked, prompting Mayor Bart De Wever to say that authorities “want to ensure the Jewish community feels safe and protected.”

He said he would welcome troops in Antwerp’s Jewish district to protect the Jewish people if necessary. Similar sentiments were also noticed in Paris, where thousands of security forces have been mobilized ahead of Thursday’s France-Israel soccer match in the French capital.

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