The Amsterdam riots and the global intifada

One of the most appalling aspects of the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis, was the glee with which the Palestinian terrorists live-streamed their atrocities for the world to see. Just 13 months later, Jews were on social media again confronted with admissions of anti-Semitic vandalism, one that rocked Amsterdam on Thursday night after a football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax.

After the match, social media was flooded with videos of hundreds of jeering and cheering attackers rampaging through the city, throwing Israeli soccer fans into the river, knocking them unconscious and forcing them to chant “liberate Palestine” before attacking them further. “Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF,” some shouted when they identified the Israelis. Although the Dutch authorities have arrested 62 suspectsthe shock waves from this incident will not go away easily.

“We disappointed the Dutch Jew during the Holocaust, and tonight we disappointed you again,” the King of Holland told Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Friday.

This was not the first riot against Jews since October 7. Just one year ago, the world witnessed an anti-Semitic outbreak in Russia’s North Caucasus region, where mobs stormed an airport in Dagestan in pursuit of Jewish passengers arriving from Israel.

What makes the Amsterdam incident particularly disturbing is that it did not take place in a distant, non-Western region, but in the heart of “enlightened” Europe, in a city known for its progressive ideals and cultural sophistication. Even more troubling, the attack appears to have been premeditated and telegraphed, but no one with the ability to stop it did.

On Friday, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, said published on X that his office had passed on several warnings to local Dutch authorities who failed in their duty to protect civilians. The 5th of November Jerusalem Post reported that members of the Mossad – Israel’s national intelligence service – had accompanied the approximately 2,600 Israeli fans who traveled to the Netherlands to provide additional security. This involvement spurred some conspiratorial journalists suggesting that the incident was a false flag operation aimed at obtain support for Israel.

The Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit that monitors the spread of new threats, revealed that several pro-Palestinian groups had coordinated the attack on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram. In other words, the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear, but no one was listening.

Despite overwhelming evidence pointing to a premeditated attack, some US media tried to portray the violence as an escalation of a brawl between opposing soccer fans, claiming that Israeli fans had torn down a Palestinian flag and shouted anti-Arab slogans before the fight. Even if that’s true – and it’s still unclear that it is – nothing justifies hordes of bloodthirsty assailants rampaging through a city, attacking anyone they suspect of being Israeli. To suggest otherwise should be unthinkable in the twenty-first century. This is the West. People can say and do nasty things, but that never justifies the violence that took place last night.

For their part, Deborah LipstadtUS Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew both condemned the attack. The events in Amsterdam could easily be repeated in the United States, where American Jews have faced increasing anti-Semitism since October 7.

In fact, last night pro-Palestinian activists tried to derails comedian Michael Rapaport’s event in Chicagothat promotes flyers that say: “Racists and Zionists are not welcome in our cities.” At the same time in Bergenfield, New Jersey – home to a significant Jewish population – pro-Palestinian groups scared the community by chanting for “intifada” and swinging pictures of Adolf Hitler.

This follows over a year of calls echoing across the United States, from public squares to college campuses, where radical activists have shouted: “Globalize the intifada.” Indeed, the intifada has become globalized.

The leap from “Zionists not welcome” and Hitler pictures to events like Amsterdam is not nearly as big as it seems. Just as it was in Amsterdam, the writing is on the wall in America. If only those in power would pay more attention. What happened in the Netherlands can easily happen at the state. U.S. officials and law enforcement must remain vigilant before Amsterdam’s horrors find their way to the U.S.

Photo by JEROEN JUMELET/ANP/AFP via Getty Images