What occurred in the lead up to the clashes?
In the hours before the football match began, footage shared to social media showed Israeli visitors in Amsterdam shouting ‘Fuck Palestine’ and climbing residential buildings to tear down Palestinian flags hanging from windows.
Maccabi fans were also recorded chanting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza, and yelling ‘fuck the Arabs.’
It is unclear when each one of the videos were filmed, though reports from the Middle East Eye suggest provocations began as early as Wednesday, 8th of November.
As the Europa League match was commencing, a minute of silence was held for the victims of deadly floods in Valencia.
Footage shows Macaabi fans deliberately ignoring and refusing the moment of silence. They were filmed shouting, laughing, and setting off fireworks.
Many suspect this is due to Spain’s recent stance against Israel. The country’s leaders cancelled a €6.5 million contract with an Israeli military firm to buy ammunition for the country’s militarised police.
Despite the violence against Maccabi fans being framed as purely anti-Semitic, the Times of Israel has reported that Maccabi football hooligans had ‘taunted Arabs in Amsterdam with anti-Palestinian chants’.
These chants included a genocidal song with lyrics that state: ‘let the IDF win to fuck the Arabs’ and ‘there are no schools left in Gaza because there are no children left.’
It was not long after these videos emerged that pro-Palestinian supporters started physically fighting back.
One video shows an Israeli man being kicked as he lies on the ground, while another video shows a man being hit by someone yelling ‘free Palestine’ and ‘for the children, motherfucker.’
In another video, an Israeli can be seen treading water in one of Amsterdam’s many canals. The person recording the video orders him to say ‘Free Palestine’ and he obliges.
On Friday morning, Israeli leaders announced that commercial planes would be deployed as a ‘rescue mission’ in the Netherlands today.
Hundreds of Macaabi football fans will be collected and flown back to Israel. Some were serving members of the IDF.
Continued bias in the media
In the aftermath of last night’s clashes, most news outlets have refused to paint the full picture of what happened in the last 24 hours.
Most only mentioned the Maccabi fans tearing down Palestinian flags in a one-liner in their reports. Virtually none mentioned the anti-Palestine chants coming from the Maccabi fans.
While violence is never the answer, the overall narrative and language used to describe the events has leant towards ‘unprovoked anti-Semitism’, without any mention of the inflammatory actions of visiting Israelis.
This recent reporting style shares a striking similarity to the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel’s assault in Gaza.
In recent weeks, more than 100 employees of the BBC accused the network of bias in favour of Israel during its reporting over the last year. In a signed letter, the employees criticised the BBC for its lack of ‘accurate evidence-based journalism’.
It also stated ‘The consequences of inadequate coverage are significant. Every television report, article and radio interview that has failed to robustly challenge Israeli claims has systematically dehumanised Palestinians.’
In a newly published 32-page report, the UN Human Rights Office has declared that nearly 70 percent of the 43,469 Palestinians killed in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza are women and children.
Still, the assault continues with extreme brutality. Yesterday, 52 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza. Since dawn today, a further 23 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli attacks.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed at least 53 people and injured 161 in the past 24 hours. A total of 3,100 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli forces in during the last year.
Billions of eyes all over the world have been locked in on what’s happening in the Middle East since October of 2023.
That said, Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera news network, regularly enforced power cuts in Gaza, and continued chokehold on Western media outlets and journalists have stood to stifle the complete picture from emerging.
As a result, many people have relied on Palestinian journalists posting to Instagram and other social media platforms to get an understanding of the lived experiences of those in Gaza during what many believe is an ongoing genocide.
With death tolls on all sides continuing to rise, it seems that emotions – and unfortunately, tensions amongst citizens – will only continue to flare until peace is finally achieved.
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