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As the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans arrived in Amsterdam for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League game, they removed a Palestinian flag from a canal, set another Palestinian flag on fire in Dam Square, and destroyed and vandalized a taxi. On the way to the arena, Maccabi fans were also chanting anti-Arab slogans. Several videos circulated of Israeli supporters singing racist songs about Palestinians during the football match, with derogatory and threatening lyrics targeting Arabs. Another chant of theirs was: “Why is there no school in Gaza? There are no children left there.” Amsterdam has a large Muslim community and has had more than 2,500 pro-Palestinian protests for a year now.

After the match, Femke Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam, described numerous attacks on Maccabi supporters as “hit and run” in the city center, with people caught hitting and kicking the fans. Five people were hospitalized, with 20 to 30 more slightly injured. However, the reports of Maccabi supporters missing or being taken hostage were found to be false reports.

The Maccabi supporters were seen setting off fireworks in the center of Amsterdam while chanting anti-Palestine slogans and taking iron tubes and wooden planks from a construction site to use as weapons. They were also seen swinging belts while running through the streets.

On Monday night, people carrying sticks and firecrackers lit a tram on fire and smashed its windows in western Amsterdam. People were also throwing fireworks, poles, and wooden pallets. It is unclear whether this was linked to the unrest from the football game.

The Dutch authorities responded by increasing police presence around the city and detaining a total of 62 people, 10 of them being Israeli citizens. Most of them were released with a fine except for four Dutch nationals. Six more arrests were made in the following days.

A partial state of emergency was declared, giving police the right to carry out random stop-and-searches. Security at Jewish buildings was also increased, and demonstrations were banned. Halsema referred to the clashes as “pogroms”, which are violent attacks done by non-Jewish people against Jewish populations, and stated that it was an antisemitic “outburst.” The public prosecutor also said that the focus of the investigation would be antisemitism. The Dutch king stated that Jewish people should feel safe in the Netherlands, with no mention of Arab safety.

This comes in the wake of Geert Wilders, an anti-Islam, nationalist, right-wing, Freedom party politician, coming first in the most recent Dutch elections. He does not currently have a role in the government, however, he posted a series of social media posts asking for Halsema to resign. He is known to have made offensive remarks about Islam as a religion and culture and directly called Moroccans demeaning curse words. In a post about the clashes, he shared similarly derogatory remarks, including threats of deportation. Muslims are the largest religious minority in the Netherlands, who found it “chilling” that a quarter of the Dutch population voted for a politician with such ideas and beliefs.

On Thursday, newly appointed Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar traveled to the Netherlands to meet with the Dutch justice minister and Geert Wilders.

On the other side of the Dutch political powers, Stephan van Baarle, the leader of a pro-immigrant party, blamed the government for failing to stop “provocations by Israeli fans” and expressed disappointment at the disproportionate and discriminatory approach of the police in handling the situation in a video.

On Sunday, following the clashes, dozens of pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested after ignoring the ban on demonstrations placed by the Dutch government. They gathered in Dam Square, Central Amsterdam when police in riot gear showed up to the demonstrators and made dozens of arrests. As reported by The National News, Dutch activist Frank van der Linde applied for a special permit to protest because of the "because our right to protest has been taken away." The demonstrators chanted peacefully and carried signs that read: “We can fight anti-Semitism and Zionism at the same time.” The government rejected the appeal.

In 2022, a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from all FIFA and UEFA competitions. They did not play in the World Cup or the Euros, and FIFA and UEFA released a joint statement of solidarity with Ukraine. Russia has also faced bans from the Olympics due to the invasion. All Russian clubs continue to be blocked from all UEFA competitions, including the Europa League, the tournament that Israel is currently participating in.