Israeli soccer fans describe the attack in Amsterdam

Israeli soccer fans have described being attacked by groups of young men in Amsterdam, with some left with injuries including broken noses.

Adi Reuben, 24, said he was kicked to the ground and had his nose broken when he and his friends were confronted by a group of more than 10 men as they walked back to their hotel.

The men asked Mr. Reuben, where he and his friends were from. “They were shouting ‘Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF,'” he said, referring to the Israeli military.

Police say the violence involved men on scooters carrying out “hit and run” attacks that were difficult to prevent.

“They started messing with me and I realized I had to run, but it was dark and I didn’t know where to go. I fell on the floor and 10 people kicked me. They shouted ‘ Palestine’,” said Mr. Reuben told the BBC.

“They kicked me on the floor for about a minute, then they walked away, they weren’t afraid of anything.

“I realized I had full blood on me face and my nose were broken and it’s very painful.”

Mr. Reuben said he could not see properly for about 30 minutes but decided not to go to hospital in Amsterdam because he had heard taxi drivers were involved in the violence.

Instead, he said he flew to Israel on Friday afternoon and would receive medical treatment there.

He added that it appeared to be “a specific attack that was organized in advance”.

Some Israeli soccer fans said they were ordered to show their passports when they were attacked.

Gal Binyanmin Tshuva, 29, told the BBC he was attacked outside a casino on Wednesday after watching another football match.

“We faced about 20 people running towards us. They asked me where I was from and I said I was from Greece. They said they didn’t believe me and they asked to see my passport.

When he told them he didn’t have it, the men punched him, pushed him to the ground and kicked his face, Mr. Tshuva.

“I don’t remember anything after that and I woke up in an ambulance with blood all over my face and realized they had broken two of my teeth.”

British men Aaron and Jacob, who are Jewish, told the BBC they went to the match but left early.

Afterwards, they said they saw men shouting anti-Semitic threats and branding an Israeli man. They intervened, helped the man to his feet and left to leave.

Soon after, a group asked the men if they were Jewish, and Aaron said they were British.

“But they said ‘you helped the Jew’ and he punched me in the face and broke my glasses,” Aaron said.

“I was bleeding and have a black eye. I’m okay but a little shaken.”

The BBC has seen a picture of Aaron showing a stream of blood running down his nose, his eye swollen shut and other facial injuries.

Esther Voet, editor-in-chief of a Dutch Jewish weekly, lives in the city center. She says she offered her home to Israeli fans after she saw footage of the violence.

“I told them this is a Jewish home and you are safe here,” she told Israeli public broadcaster Kann. “People were really scared. I never thought I would go through this in Amsterdam.”

Dutch police said Israeli fans had suffered “severe abuse” during “hit-and-run” attacks, many carried out by young men on scooters.

Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said it had proved difficult to prevent such attacks even with a significant number of officers present.

The force eventually decided to round up Maccabi supporters and protect them before transporting them out of the area in buses, he said.

The attacks on Friday night followed some tensions between Maccabi fans and people in Amsterdam over the previous days, officials said.

On Wednesday, Maccabi fans attacked a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag, police chief Holla said.

There were further clashes in Dam Square overnight on Thursday, but police were mostly able to keep the groups apart.

Some Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have previously been involved in racist incidents in Israel, including swearing at the team’s Palestinian and Arab players and allegedly pressuring the team to expel them.

Fans of the team have also previously attacked protesters demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked about video footage showing Maccabi fans in Amsterdam shouting offensive slogans, Mayor Halsema said: “What happened last night has nothing to do with protest. There is no excuse for what happened.”

Additional reporting by Shaina Oppenheimer in Jerusalem