A Pogrom at Amsterdam

That strikes us as a newsworthy move by Prime Minister Netanyahu in dispatching Israel Air Force cargo planes to the Netherlands to rescue Jewish soccer fans who were attacked in a pogrom at Amsterdam. The violence had erupted after a soccer game with the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club. It trapped scores in their hotels at the city. The rightist leader, Geert Wilders, characterized what was going on in the streets as a “Jew hunt.”We don’t want to overstate the scale of what took place overnight. The number of injured is being reported as 10, though some are reported to be serious. Yet feature that nearly 80 years after the end of World War II and 75 years after the founding of the Jewish state Israel has had to send aircraft to rescue its citizens in a European country from antisemitic mobs. It is just an astounding development.The violence, our Anthony Grant reports, was captured on videos posted on social media. They show Israel fans being ambushed by gangs of masked assailants. The attackers shouted “free Palestine” as they harassed and then beat the Israel fans, sometimes kicking them to the ground as the victims screamed. Some were also pelted with firecrackers. As these attacks took place, Mr. Grant writes, Dutch police were seemingly absent. Mr. Wilders, the founder and leader of the Party for Freedom, wrote on X, “Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable.” In a separate post, Mr. Wilders stated that “We have become the Gaza of Europe.”Mr. Wilders decried “Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews. I will not accept that. Never.” He vowed that “the authorities will be held accountable for their failure to protect the Israeli citizens.” Israel’s envoy at the United Nations, Danny Danon, in a post on X, called the reports of “extreme” violence “very disturbing.” Wrote he: “There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024.”Congressman Brad Sherman posted on X that he would be “putting together a group of Jewish members of Congress to discuss this with the Dutch Ambassador.” Israel’s foreign ministry advised Israelis not to leave their hotels until their safe egress could be ensured. It’s significant that Israel felt a need to send its own planes to get Jews back to a place where they are safe. Someone, after all, has to protect the Jews in Europe.

A Pogrom at Amsterdam

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