Two days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, which took place in Nazi Germany 86 years ago, Europe saw last night more riots against Jews – and in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, of all places. This happened after a Maccabi Tel Aviv football match, which lost to the Ajax team 5-0, when hundreds of Israeli fans left the stadium back to their hotels and the airport – and were attacked by a violent mob, in what seemed to be a planned ambush. The attacks included beatings, stabbings, trampling, throwing into water canals, and a multitude of other kinds of violence. From the first testimonies, it seems that most of the attackers were immigrants in the Netherlands, members of the Muslim community. The local police took long hours to disperse the violence and restore quiet to the streets; and now it appears that there are dozens of wounded, and 3 “disconnected” who are being searched.
But unlike Kristallnacht, today there is a strong Jewish state in the world, which sees extending aid and assistance to Jews and Israelis who are in trouble everywhere in the world as one of its top goals. Already yesterday, Israeli intelligence gave the Dutch government warnings of planned attacks on Israelis arriving in the country; and immediately upon the start of the events, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the new Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar were in close contact with their Dutch counterparts, in order to help Israelis there. The IDF announced that it was “prepared immediately to issue a rescue mission in coordination with the Dutch government, under the guidance of the political leadership and further assessing the situation… The expedition will embark on transport aircraft and include medical and rescue teams. The Home Front Command leads the rescue operation in cooperation with the various branches of the IDF and the security forces.”
The prime minister of the Dutch government, Dick Spuff, said: “I was terrified of the reports. These are completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks against Israelis. I emphasized in my conversation with Netanyahu that the perpetrators will be prosecuted. Calm has returned to the Capital.” A senior member of the Dutch coalition, Geert Wilders, known as a close friend of the State of Israel, also spoke about the events: “A Pogrom in the city of Amsterdam, we have become the Gaza of Europe. Muslims with Palestinian flags hunted Jews, I won’t accept that. – Never. The authorities will be held responsible for their failure to protect Israeli citizens. Never again.”
