The Guardian, “Israeli football fans attacked after match in Amsterdam” (c)

Yesterday, on November 7, 2024, just two days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, a group of Israelis visiting Amsterdam for a football game were subjected to a series of violent attacks by pro-Palestinian assailants. Allow me to put this event in a historical context.

Not to go into the ancient history of pogroms by Crusaders in the Middle Ages, or Bogdan Khmelnitsky pogrom in Ukraine and Poland in the seventeen century, the Kishinev pogrom, which erupted in the capital of Bessarabia province of the Russian Empire (now, Moldavia) during Passover of 1903, was one of the most notorious anti-Jewish riots in Russian history, triggered by the blood libel accusation spread through local antisemitic newspapers. During the Kishinev pogrom of April 6-7, 1903, the Russian police force’s conduct exemplified a pattern of official complicity in anti-Jewish violence that would later be seen in other historical instances of state-sanctioned mob violence. According to contemporary accounts published in “The Times” and detailed in Simon Dubnow’s “History of the Jews in Russia and Poland,” the police had received advance warning of potential violence yet chose to remain passive observers as the pogrom unfolded. American consul to Odessa, W.H. Heywood, in his official report to the State Department, documented how police officers not only stood by during the violence but actively prevented Jews from organizing self-defense (American Jewish Year Book, 1904-1905). The celebrated Jewish poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik, who visited Kishinev shortly after the pogrom to interview survivors, powerfully captured the police’s deliberate inaction in his poem “In the City of Slaughter.” Only after two days of unchecked violence and following direct orders from St. Petersburg did the police finally move to restore order, by which time 49 Jews had been killed, hundreds wounded, and 1,500 Jewish homes and businesses had been destroyed. The behavior of the Kishinev police force, documented in detail through both official records and survivor testimonies, established a tragic precedent of law enforcement’s potential role in enabling rather than preventing organized violence against minority communities.

The pattern of Russian police complicity in anti-Jewish violence, starkly demonstrated during the Kishinev pogrom of 1903, was far from an isolated incident. During the Kyiv pogroms of 1881, which marked the beginning of two decades of systematic anti-Jewish violence in the Russian Empire, police forces notoriously remained passive while mobs methodically attacked Jewish neighborhoods (documented in the official report by Count Kutaisov to Tsar Alexander III and in contemporaneous accounts published in “Voskhod” newspaper). The police response in Gomel in 1903 showed an even more active form of complicity, as law enforcement officers deliberately disarmed Jewish self-defense groups while allowing attackers to proceed unimpeded (detailed in the court proceedings published in “Pravitelstvennyi Vestnik,” 1904). This pattern reached its apex during the Odessa pogrom of 1905, where police and military forces abandoned any pretense of neutrality and actively participated in the violence against the Jewish population, as documented in the official investigation by Senator Kuzminsky (published in “Materialy k istorii russkoi kontr-revolutsii,” St. Petersburg, 1908). Thus, the behavior of law enforcement during the Kishinev pogrom was not an anomaly but rather part of a broader pattern of state-sanctioned anti-Jewish violence in the Russian Empire, where police forces consistently either enabled violence through deliberate inaction or, in some cases, actively participated in it.

The Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) of November 9-10, 1938, marked a pivotal escalation in Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews, as orchestrated violence swept across Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. While presented to the world as a spontaneous public reaction to the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan in Paris, the pogrom was carefully orchestrated by Nazi authorities. The German police forces played a crucial role in enabling the violence through calculated inaction. Following explicit instructions from Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police (documented in his telegram to police units at 1:20 AM on November 10), police were ordered not to interfere with the destruction of Jewish property or synagogues and were to intervene only if “Aryan” property was threatened or if “foreign Jews” were in danger. Police officers stood by as SA men and Nazi Party activists murdered at least 91 Jews (according to official reports, though historians believe the actual death toll was significantly higher), injured thousands more, destroyed more than 1,400 synagogues, ransacked over 7,000 Jewish businesses, and arrested approximately 30,000 Jewish men for deportation to concentration camps. The archival records of police reports from that night (preserved in the German Federal Archives) show that many police officers meticulously documented the destruction while taking no action to prevent it, marking a significant instance of law enforcement being explicitly instructed to selectively withhold protection from a targeted minority population.

In more recent history, in the United States, we witnessed the Crown Heights pogrom. In August 1991, following a tragic car accident that killed a Black child, a mob in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights attacked and fatally stabbed a Jewish scholar, Yankel Rosenbaum, from Australia. Over the next three days, rioters attacked Jewish residents and vandalized Jewish homes and businesses while police stood by without intervening. A state investigation, published as the “Girgenti Report” (1993), severely criticized the NYPD’s response, concluding that police failed to protect the Jewish community from violence and property damage. Then-Mayor David Dinkins was also criticized for his delayed response in ordering more aggressive police action to stop the violence.

Yesterday, a group of Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv visiting Amsterdam for a UEFA Europa League match against Ajax were subjected to a series of violent attacks by pro-Palestinian assailants.[1] These attacks included physical assaults, vandalism, and intimidation. Videos circulating on social media show masked individuals wielding knives, clubs, and even vehicles, targeting Israeli fans. The attacks resulted in multiple injuries among Jewish visitors. One person reportedly was thrown into a canal and is seen floating in the water. The incidents sparked widespread condemnation, with many expressing shock and outrage at the level of violence and antisemitism displayed. The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Dany Danon, wrote on X, “There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024.”

The Amsterdam police have come under significant criticism for their response to the attacks on Israeli football fans. Many have accused them of failing to protect the fans adequately and, in some cases, even refusing to intervene due to concerns about escalating the situation. Videos circulating online show instances where police officers appear to be standing by while fans are being attacked. As reported by The Jewish Voice, “In Amsterdam, the lack of police intervention has been a focal point of criticism, with Israeli fans expressing profound frustration over the delayed response. One Israeli witness told Kan News, as reported by YWN, that police presence was virtually nonexistent in the immediate aftermath of the game, despite the conspicuous presence of groups waiting to attack.” Some reports suggest that police may have been reluctant to use force due to potential backlash. As reported by BBC, “We are looking back on 36 hours that really shocked me. Supporters from Israel have been attacked and some abused in a terrible way,” Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said. “I’m particularly shocked by fact that we’ve had one of largest police actions and we were not able to control or prevent this violence.” Dutch police stated that 62 people were detained following the clashes.[2]

The reports of attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam ahead of a UEFA Europa League match have raised concerns about police response to antisemitic violence in contemporary Europe. If verified, these incidents would represent a troubling continuation of the historical pattern of law enforcement’s failure to protect Jewish communities during organized violence. The parallels to historical cases – from Kishinev to Crown Heights – remind us that the role of police during attacks on minority communities remains a critical issue requiring continued vigilance and examination. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands expressed “deep horror and shock” at the attacks, stating: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”[3] However, videos surfaced on social media depicting Duch citizens cheering this morning the mob and chanting “Free Palestine.” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema condemned the attacks as “a very dark moment for the city.”[4] Halsema said that the incident reminded her of pogroms against Jews in Europe, emphasizing that Jewish life and culture were under threat.[5]

As Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The alleged complacency of the Amsterdam police and the indifference of ordinary people will create a fertile ground for such pogroms to spread to other cities in Europe and other continents.

[1] Kent, Eugenia Yosef, Edward Szekeres, Lauren (8 November 2024). “Israeli soccer fans attacked in Amsterdam, in what Dutch authorities call antisemitic incidents”. CNN. Retrieved 8 November 2024.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Times of Israel. 8 November 2024.

[4] Kent, Eugenia Yosef, Edward Szekeres, Lauren (8 November 2024). “Israeli soccer fans attacked in Amsterdam, in what Dutch authorities call antisemitic incidents”. CNN. Retrieved 8 November 2024.

[5] “Israeli football fans attacked: Amsterdam mayor condemns ‘hit and run’ attacks on Israeli football supporters”. BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2024.