Soccer match aftermath leads to safety concerns in Amsterdam streets
Recent soccer match in Amsterdam turned into street chaos with multiple injuries and arrests. Dutch officials took quick steps to control situation while facing criticism over security measures
Last week a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam led to street violence‚ with five people needing hospital care. Groups attacked Israeli fans after the game while posting videos of their actions on social-media platforms
What happened last night has nothing to do with protest; there is no excuse for what happened
Local police caught about 60 people (with 10 still held) after the attacks. The situation got worse when hit-and-run groups targeted fans walking back to their hotels; forcing riot-police to step-in
Pre-game problems started when some Maccabi supporters burned a flag and damaged a taxi in the city-center. The citys authorities banned pro-Palestinian protests near the stadium but couldnt stop the post-match trouble
Dutch leader Dick Schoof and other officials spoke against these anti-jewish acts. The city put in place a 3-day ban on certain gatherings and gave extra search-powers to police. Israeli minister Gideon Saar plans an un-scheduled trip to discuss these issues
These events happened right before the kristallnacht remembrance day which made them even more concerning. Reports show that anti-jewish acts in Netherlands went up 8 times higher since last fall
- El Al added flights to help people leave
- Police got more power to stop-and-search
- City banned protests for 3 days
- Hotels got safety advice from officials
Far-right politician Geert Wilders used this event to target specific groups‚ while jewish community leaders said police didnt do enough to keep people safe
In other global news: COP29 starts on monday in Baku with worries about its leader making oil deals. China approved a big money plan to help its economy‚ and Mozambique saw more protests after its oct election where over 20 people died
