'They shouted Jewish, IDF': Israeli football fans describe attack in Amsterdam

Gabriela Pomeroy
BBC News

Israeli football 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 on the ground and had his nose broken when he and his friends were confronted by a group of over 10 men while walking back to their hotel.

The men asked Mr Reuben where he and his friends were from. "They shouted '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 which were difficult to prevent.

"They started to mess with me and I realised I had to run, but it was dark and I didn't know where to go. I fell to the floor and 10 people were kicking me. They were shouting ‘Palestine’," Mr Reuben told the BBC.

"They were kicking me on the floor for about a minute, then they walked off, they weren’t afraid of anything.

“I realised I had full blood on my face and my nose was broken and it is very painful."

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

Instead he said he was flying to Israel on Friday afternoon and would get medical treatment there.

He added that it appeared to be "a specific attack that was organised beforehand".

Some Israeli football fans said they were ordered to show their passports when they were set upon.

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

"We faced around 20 people who ran 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 beat him, pushed him to the ground and kicked his face, Mr Tshuva said.

"I don’t remember anything after that, and I woke up in an ambulance with blood all over my face, and realised 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 yelling antisemitic threats and stamping on an Israeli man. They intervened, helped the man to his feet, and went to leave.

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

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

“I was bleeding and have a black eye. I’m okay but a bit shaken."

The BBC has seen a photo of Aaron that shows a stream of blood running down his nose, his eye swollen and other cuts on his face.

Esther Voet, editor-in-chief of a Dutch Jewish weekly newspaper, lives in the city centre. 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 "serious abuses" during "hit-and-run" attacks, many carried out by young men on scooters.

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

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

The attacks overnight into Friday followed some tensions between Maccabi fans and people in Amsterdam over 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 into Thursday but police were mostly able to keep the groups separate.

Some Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have previously been involved in racist incidents in Israel, including cursing at the team’s Palestinian and Arab players and reportedly applying pressure on the team to oust them.

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

Asked about video footage appearing to show Maccabi fans in Amsterdam chanting 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

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