"Boys on scooters" targeted Israeli football fans in Amsterdam; No confirmed abductions

“Boys on scooters” were behind multiple attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam on Thursday evening, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said in a press conference on the events on Friday. She spoke of a “pitch-black” night that has “deeply damaged” the city’s Jewish life and culture. The police are aware of reports that Israelis were abducted in the Dutch capital but have no concrete indications that this actually happened.

Supporters of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked in several places in Amsterdam on Thursday after a match against Ajax. Five people had to go to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the attacks. All five had been discharged by Friday morning, the police said at the press conference. The police are aware of “20 to 30” other Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters who sustained minor injuries.

The police do not have any concrete information confirming rumors that Israelis were kidnapped in Amsterdam. Police chief Peter Holla asked that concerned family members contact them immediately to file an official report about anyone known to be missing. Holla, who took over as chief of police in Amsterdam in early September, said that the police could not give figures on how many people may or may not be missing.

“Amsterdam is reflecting on a ‘pitch-black’ night, and it is still dark today,” Halsema told dozens of journalists gathered at City Hall. The attacks on Jewish football fans were a form of a hit-and-run perpetrated by “boys on scooters” who then raced across the city “fleeing from the police,” she continued.

“That this is happening in Amsterdam is unbearable and cannot be stomached,” she said. “Our city has been deeply damaged, our Jewish life and culture are under attack.”

The mayor said that the Amsterdam authorities asked the National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism and Security (NCTV) for a security risk assessment on the Ajax vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv match and the Kristallnacht commemoration happening on the same night. The NCTV saw no concrete threat, the mayor said. Early police investigation shows that the riots were quickly organized on Telegram, Halsema said.

Public prosecutor René de Beukelaer said that the authorities would release photos of the perpetrators in order to quickly identify and apprehend them. The police arrested 62 people during the riots. Ten of them, eight adults and two minors, were still in custody on Friday. They are suspected of public violence against people or groups. The people who have been released are suspected of insults and throwing fireworks.

The authorities are taking extra measures to ensure everyone’s safety. Both Amsterdam and Amstelveen are declared security risk areas, because there may still be Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in the cities. The declaration gives the police more power to take preventative action, like stopping and searching people.

“What has happened is a scandal for Amsterdam,” mayor Halsema said. “I want to make it clear. We are used, in Amsterdam, that there can be tensions. There are many demonstrations and protests, and we are always prepared for them. … But what happened last night is not a protest. It has nothing to do with a protest or demonstration. It is a crime. There is no excuse for what happened last night”

Halsema declined to comment on Israel’s response to the violence, instead focusing on what the Dutch Cabinet said. Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the “anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens.” Justice Minister David van Weel said that the perpetrators would be identified and punished. “We should be ashamed of ourselves,” he said on Friday.

Asked whether she would step down as mayor of Amsterdam if tens of thousands of Jewish people didn’t feel safe in the city, Halsema only said that she has the mandate of the city council to run a large, international city.