Journal De Bruxelles - Lawmakers clash, protesters arrested in wake of Amsterdam violence

The Netherlands is still dealing with the political fallout from last week's violence that followed a Maccabi Tel Aviv match against home club Ajax in the capital, when Maccabi supporters were assaulted by men on scooters.

Five Maccabi fans were briefly hospitalised after being beaten up in what Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof termed an incident of "unadulterated anti-Semitism".

After the match, groups of men on scooters engaged in "hit-and-run" attacks on Maccabi fans in several areas of the city.

Police said the attackers were mobilised by calls on social media to target Jewish people.

Far-right MP Geert Wilders, leader of the biggest party in the coalition government, said the perpetrators of the violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were "all Muslims" and "for the most part Moroccans".

The anti-Islam Wilders called for the attackers to be prosecuted "for terrorism."

"For the first time since the Second World War there was a hunt on Jews," Wilders said, adding, "I am sick of being criticised when I tell the truth."

But the firebrand MP drew the ire of opposition parties, who accused him of "adding fuel to the fire" and pointing the finger at an entire group.

As the debate was still ongoing hours later, several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Amsterdam's famous Dam Square, wearing Palestinian scarves and chanting slogans.

The demonstration "is really all about our freedom of speech and protecting each other," protester Sam van Urk, 33, told AFP.

"I don't believe that even the lowest level of violence is a solution," added another protester who only identified herself as "Hiba".

Amsterdam "is tense, it's a lot for everyone," she told AFP.

The demonstration went ahead despite a security ban on protests by the city's mayor which is in place until noon on Thursday.

The demonstrators were dragged off to waiting buses, AFP correspondents saw after they refused to leave the square when told they could protest elsewhere in the city.

- 'Dividing the country' -

In parliament, left-wing parties unanimously condemned the violence, calling for dialogue with the Muslim community instead of "dividing the country".

"I share the condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam and yes, there was indeed anti-Semitic violence," left-wing opposition leader Frans Timmermans said.

"You are simply stoking the fires while this country has a need for politicians to unite people and find solutions," Timmermans told Wilders.

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema on Tuesday called the attacks a "poisonous cocktail" of anti-Semitism and hooliganism.

Events ahead of the match heightened tensions, including anti-Arab chants by Maccabi fans, who also set fire to a Palestinian flag on the city's central square and vandalised a taxi.

After the match, which passed off peacefully, reports emerged of social media calls to attack Jews, Amsterdam police said.

The violence took place against the backdrop of an increasingly polarised Europe, with heightened tensions following a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic attacks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

- 'Connection under strain ' -

A representative of Amsterdam's Muslim community said its members were feeling a lot of pressure as a result of the aftermath of the attacks.

"We are at a point where our connection as Amsterdammers is under strain," Achraf El Johari said.

"We don't dispute that there was indeed talk of Jew hating... but you can't draw a line back to include a whole group," he told the AT5 television station.

The Dutch PM indicated that the government would present concrete steps to tackle anti-Semitism on Friday.

Eight people remained in custody over the violence last week and police could not immediately say how many protesters were detained on Wednesday.

P.Mathieu--JdB