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Media Blames Jewish Victims for Amsterdam Attacks

Tal Polon
Dutch mobile police officers

Dutch mobile police officers stand guard after Muslims violence in central Amsterdam following the UEFA Europa League soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Nov. 8, 2024. Photo by VLN Niews/ANP/AFP via Getty Images.

Media displays indifference to – and, in some cases, tacit justification for – antisemitic violence that happened on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

By Rachel O’Donoghue, Honest Reporting

Footage of last week’s violent attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam has now been circulated widely.

Clips show Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters chased down the city’s canal-lined streets by mobs armed with fireworks.

Many of us have seen the horrifying video of a young fan pleading with his attackers that he is “not Jewish,” as they pummel him with kicks and punches, and also the brutal scenes of Israelis beaten unconscious by thugs shouting slogans like “Free Palestine” and “This is for the children.”

Dutch authorities have confirmed — and messages shared on encrypted apps like Telegram reveal — that the attack on Israeli fans was meticulously planned. Contrary to some claims, this wasn’t a reaction to hooligan behavior by a handful of Maccabi supporters.

More disturbing than the sickening antisemitic violence that happened on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht is the media’s indifference to — and, in some cases, tacit justification for — these attacks.

Take The New York Times’ coverage, which initially described the incident as “violence tied to a soccer game,” implying it was run-of-the-mill football hooliganism. Even as the headline referenced the antisemitic nature of the attack, the Times slyly pinned this view on “Israeli authorities,” despite identical conclusions from Dutch police.

 

Incredibly, a video of a mob hurling projectiles at a Maccabi supporter was still reported as part of “clashes” between rival teams, sanitizing the brutal one-sided attack into a benign scuffle, while Tel Aviv fans singing “Am Yisrael Chai” was termed an “anti-Arab provocation” by the outlet:


Then, four days later, The New York Times took its “both sides” narrative even further, publishing an “explainer” suggesting that, even if Israelis were attacked, they somehow invited it. The article opens with an assertion that the mob surrounding a casino — where Israelis were seeking shelter — was there because someone “stole and burned a Palestinian flag.”

Later, the piece even suggests that it only “appears” the attacks were motivated by antisemitism.

Equally worrying is The New York Times’ platforming of Sheher Khan, a Muslim Dutch politician who argues that Israelis should be banned from Amsterdam to avoid “inevitable” demonstrations and confrontations.

Rather than challenging Khan’s grotesque proposal with a call to protect Israelis and Jews from antisemitic mobs, the Times practically endorses it, citing the “political backdrop” as reason enough.

 

Unfortunately, The New York Times’ coverage reflects a broader trend.

Reuters, the Associated Press, and The Guardian also rushed to frame the violence as soccer “clashes,” ignoring the condemnation of what Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema likened to “antisemitic hit-and-run squads.”

The worst reactions, however, came from certain media personalities indulging in grotesque victim-blaming.

For example, former MSNBC host and self-styled moral arbiter Mehdi Hasan took to X to all but justify the pogrom as a natural consequence of the war in Gaza.

Guardian columnist Owen Jones felt compelled to add “context” to the attacks, claiming that Israeli fans chanted “genocidal bile,” effectively suggesting they deserved to be targeted. This angle was eagerly echoed by Novara Media’s Rivkah Brown, who confidently branded Maccabi fans as among the real “culprits.”

Let’s not be too surprised by Jones, though. This is, after all, the same man who, after watching 47 minutes of footage from the October 7 Hamas massacre, concluded that Israel still hadn’t provided enough proof of horrors like the gang-rape of women and the deliberate killing of children.

What took place in Amsterdam was a brutal wave of antisemitic violence. That’s the reality. And it should be just as simple for the media and their pundits to call it what it was — a modern-day pogrom. Enough with the equivocating.

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