A football game between Israeli and Dutch teams was marred by violence, leaving the multicultural metropolis traumatized and in need of mending.
Amsterdam resident Tori Egherman, a Jewish writer and researcher, remains angry over the violent and racist actions of Israeli football club fans involved in the recent clashes.
The image, created by Dutch graphic designer Max Kisman, reads "Peace now" and has been distributed to thousands of people. Egherman believes that the division and lack of cooperation between Jews and Muslims make it difficult to improve the situation.
She believes that if communities are divided and cannot work together, there is little they can do to improve the situation.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans who attended an Israeli match against Dutch group Ajax vandalized Palestinian flags and chanted racist slogans, threatening the Israeli army to "f**k the Arabs." They attacked city-dwellers' homes with Palestinian flags.
On November 9, they chanted again, causing further racist attacks. After the match, Ajax won 5-0, Maccabi fans were chased and attacked by groups on foot and scooters, a move condemned by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, as anti-Semitic violence.
Five people were hospitalized and dozens arrested in a violent attack on a Jewish community in the Netherlands.
The violence was both provoked and anti-Semitic, with many Jews and Muslim women being called out for wearing a kippah or hijab. However, the violence is only acknowledged if it doesn't come from someone who's white and Dutch.
Local activist Sobhi Khatib, an Israel-born Palestinian, reflects on the recent violence in Amsterdam, comparing it to student-led pro-Palestine protests in 2024.
Khatib believes the violence is an escalation of institutional violence in Dutch society, particularly since Geert Wilders' election as leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), which won the 2023 election and became the largest party in the House of Representatives.
The incident was expected and reflects the ongoing tensions in the Netherlands.
Amsterdam's Mayor Femke Halsema issued an emergency decree banning protests following clashes with Palestinians in Gaza.
Activist Frank van der Linde argued that the ban breached human rights and that preventing free expression risks further disruption. In a court case, he argued that the decree breached human rights, but the court ruled that the ban was legitimate.
Van der Linde concluded that repression is a trend and that the Dutch state has tried to exert control on activists.
The Dutch Muslim minority, comprising about 5% of the population, has a complex relationship with Dutch Moroccans, who are often uneasy in the Netherlands.
The Dutch government has accused Moroccan scum in Holland of making the streets unsafe, and the conflict has deeply impacted Dutch Moroccans in the city, much more than Palestinians.
Dutch Moroccan student Oumaima Al Abdellaoui, who co-authored a book about the two cultures in Dutch society, has expressed fear and anger over the blame game, which often wrongly blames the community for societal issues like housing and crime.
She describes the feeling as "tweederangsburger," meaning "second-class citizen," and explains that the Dutch government and police do not understand or protect the Dutch Moroccan community.
The conflict has left many Dutch Moroccans feeling frightened and angry.
0 Comments