Europe roiled by attacks on Israeli soccer fans

Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans celebrating in Amsterdam

(Image credit: Mouneb Taim / Anadolu via Getty Images)

What happened

Dutch police broke up a banned protest in central Amsterdam and detained more than 50 people Sunday amid fallout from what Israeli and Dutch authorities called "antisemitic attacks" on Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans Thursday and Friday morning. Amsterdam's municipal government prohibited all public assembly on Friday and extended the ban through Thursday as Israel warned its citizens to "categorically avoid" sports and cultural events abroad, saying "preparations to harm Israelis have been identified in several European cities."

Who said what

Five people were treated at hospitals after last week's violence and more than 60 people were arrested on suspicion of participating in what Amsterdam's mayor called "hit and run" attacks on the Israeli soccer fans. Police said gangs of youths, many on scooters, chased Maccabi fans and pelted them with fireworks, "apparently inspired by calls on social media to target Jewish people," The Associated Press said.

Police also said "Maccabi supporters pulled a Palestinian flag from a building," burned a second Palestinian flag and "vandalized a taxi" in the 24 hours before the match, The Wall Street Journal said. "Videos circulated on social media of Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slogans." People at yesterday's banned demonstration told the BBC they were gathering to protest Israel's war in Gaza and also the Israeli soccer "hooligans." Amsterdam police said anti-Jewish incidents continued through the weekend.

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What next?

Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be on duty Thursday to ensure security at a France-Israel match at the Stade de France stadium. President Emmanuel Macron will attend, in a show of "fraternity and solidarity following the intolerable antisemitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam," a French government official said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.