Prosecutors clear Schoof, Nobel over comments on immigrant youth after Ajax-Maccabi riot
Dutch prosecutors have cleared Secretary of State Jurgen Nobel and Prime Minister Dick Schoof of criminal charges over controversial remarks made following violence at the Ajax-Maccabi soccer match in Amsterdam on November 7 last year.
Nobel, Secretary of State for Participation and Integration, told Dutch broadcaster NOS that footage from the incident showed "Arab texts," indicating that the youth involved were of Islamic and Arab backgrounds. He added, “Islamic youth largely do not endorse our norms and values.”
When journalists asked about Nobel’s remarks, Schoof expressed a similar view, later being accused of claiming that immigrants broadly lack integration. He then said in Parliament that he was referring only to a subset of youth who “have turned away from society.” He added, “To others, I say: no, that is not about you; I stand with the good who suffer under the bad.”
The mosque umbrella organization K7 filed charges against Nobel for group insult. Nobel has maintained that his remarks were intended to address integration challenges.
The Public Prosecution Service said the remarks were offensive but did not constitute criminal group insult. Prosecutors noted that while Nobel’s statements generalized about minority groups, his role as State Secretary allows broad latitude to discuss integration issues as part of public debate.
The controversy stems from the November 7 Europa League match between Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, when Maccabi supporters were chased, harassed, and assaulted in Amsterdam. Police arrested 62 people, and five supporters were hospitalized. The unrest intensified scrutiny of anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic rhetoric in Dutch politics.
Tensions within the Cabinet surfaced immediately after the riots. State Secretary Nora Achahbar objected to comments she considered racist or discriminatory during the first Cabinet meeting after the violence and later resigned in protest.
