The anti-Semitic violence in Amsterdam must be strongly condemned and requires a firm approach. The time of wanting to connect is over, says faction leader of the Amsterdam VVD Daan Wijnants in Good Morning Netherlands on NPO 1. “That whataboutism of ‘yes, but the supporters’ is really a diversionary maneuver.”
The Amsterdam city council is meeting this afternoon for an emergency debate about the violence after the Ajax – Maccabi Tel Aviv football match last Thursday night.
After supporters from Israel had misbehaved earlier in the evening, Israelis were indiscriminately violently abused in the center of Amsterdam after the match, with perpetrators calling for a hunt for Jews and asking victims to identify themselves. Wijnants wants to know whether the local triangle has received signals that things were about to get out of hand.
“What strikes me is that there were already a number of signals about app groups around taxi drivers, which called for an organized search for Maccabi supporters and to do violence to them,” says Wijnants. “Were the signals processed correctly or could more have been done with police capacity? I think that will be an important point for the debate this afternoon.”
Role Femke Halsema
Wijnants “certainly wants to start a conversation” about whether Mayor Femke Halsema has acted appropriately. “A low point has really been reached in Amsterdam’s history. Israelis, people of Jewish appearance, have been sought out and attacked. They were asked to identify themselves. That is not something we can just ignore.”
“A different course will really have to be taken. While we are always talking about connections, a tougher approach is now necessary,” says the VVD faction leader in Amsterdam, who expresses his appreciation for the police. At this time, no one involved in Thursday night’s violence has been arrested. “Let’s face it, the police are doing an incredible job.”
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Mayor Halsema responded with anger during a press conference last Friday to the attack and abuse of Israeli supporters. She also said that, together with the police chief and the chief public prosecutor, she would do “everything possible” for “the safety of Jewish Amsterdam”. She also said she was not thinking about resigning. “We take responsibility,” she said. And: “I serve and protect the citizens of Amsterdam.”
‘Whataboutism’
After the violent incidents in Amsterdam, attention was quickly drawn to the behavior of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters who sang racist songs and pulled Palestinian flags from facades on Thursday evening. Wijnants is clear: “Whether there was provocation is a completely irrelevant discussion in my opinion. There is no legitimacy whatsoever for what happened.”
He emphasizes that this is not about football violence, but about anti-Semitic violence. “In the days after Thursday, when there were no more supporters, people were still asked for their passports and someone was kicked out of their taxi. There have been many anti-Semitic incidents. That whataboutism of ‘yes, but the supporters’ is really a diversionary maneuver.”
LGBTI people and women
Wijnants points out that the Jewish community in Amsterdam has been under strict security for decades. “But it is not just the Jewish community that is becoming an endangered minority. It also applies to LGBTI people who increasingly no longer feel safe on the streets in Amsterdam. There are many known incidents of this.”
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“And young women are also being harassed and attacked,” says the liberal. “I think you can see a pattern in all those different insecurities. As a society we really need to set stricter standards.”
Also read:
Police officers pelted with bricks in Amsterdam: ‘Literally faced with hot fire’
By: Peter Visser
