El Al sends planes to pick up Israeli soccer supporters

The Israeli airline El Al is today sending “rescue planes” to the Netherlands to pick up football supporters from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The flights are free for all passengers who have already booked a return ticket, even if this was done with another company, he said Times of Israel.

The first flight leaves Amsterdam at 2pm. These flights are in addition to the scheduled flights that would depart from Schiphol anyway.

There had been violent incidents between supporters and anti-Palestinian rioters around the Maccabi match against Ajax last night. Unverified images on social media are said to show Maccabi supporters being chased and attacked by masked men.

The police talking about violence that went beyond all limits. According to the Amsterdam legal triangle, rioters were “actively looking for supporters of Israel to attack and abuse them”.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN also posted pictures online last night. They were probably taken yesterday during the day on the Singel near the University Library. A man is chased and abused by, among others, someone with a Palestinian flag.

The images can be shocking:

In Israeli media Ten Israelis are said to have been taken to hospital in Amsterdam with injuries. This has not been confirmed by Amsterdam hospitals. UMC Amsterdam says that two wounded people were admitted there who could be accused of the violence, the OLVG hospital talks about five. All these injured people have now left the hospital.

It is also known in Israel that Israelis were attacked in their hotel. Those people were advised to stay in hotel rooms and call emergency numbers in Israel.

More images of violence in Amsterdam are circulating on social media. For example, the Israeli embassy in the US published images showing a man lying on the ground being kicked.

Another video shows a group of men getting out of a van and chasing someone. They catch him and the victim is forcefully forced “Free Palestine“, he does. He is also asked if he wants to kill children. The man offers his money and begs for mercy.

In still other images, he is being chased by attackers.Free Palestinecried; they want the suspected Israelis to shout that too.

Times of Israel identify that Israeli fans incited “Arabs and Palestinians” in Amsterdam by shouting anti-Palestinian slogans such as “Fuck you the Arabs,” and “Fuck you Palestine.” A Palestinian flag hanging from a window was also removed by supporters.

The police intervened in several places:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already responded last night. He spoke of a “very violent incident” against Israeli citizens in Amsterdam. He said that Israel is sending two planes to take Israelis to safety.

A spokesman for the Israeli military says they have a historic duty to protect “our people” wherever they are. The army wants to send medical teams and also rescue teams to people trapped in a hotel.

Tonight’s events are attracting a lot of international attention. The US special envoy for combating anti-Semitism says on X that images on social media are reminiscent of a “classic pogrom” and compares it to Kristallnacht in 1938 in Nazi Germany. That will be celebrated tomorrow.

Pro-Palestinian protesters wanted to protest at the stadium around Ajax’s match against Maccabi, but Mayor Halsema did not allow this. They had to stand in another place, a kilometer away. Some demonstrators tried to get to the stadium but were stopped.

Before and around the game, however, there were clashes between pro-Palestinian youth and Maccabi supporters. It was like that again at the beginning of the night.

AT5 writes that at the beginning of the night, when Maccabi supporters came to the center by metro, chairs were thrown and destruction was done. The mobile unit protected a group of Israelis and took them back to their hotel. Pictures show that police officers with dogs have been deployed in Dam Square.

Prime Minister Schoof says in an initial response that he is disappointed by the news he noted. He says that “anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis are completely unacceptable.” He also says that the perpetrators will be found and prosecuted.