Israeli and global leaders on Friday denounced a violent attack in Amsterdam on Israeli football fans, who called the incident a modern-day “pogrom.”
The supporters – who were in the Netherlands to watch Maccabi Tel Aviv face Dutch club Ajax on Thursday night – said assailants carried knives and clubs and attacked anyone who looked Israeli.
“It was a pogrom. If there had been internet in (1938), that’s what Kristallnacht would have looked like,” one victim told the Times of Israel newspaper, referring to a Nazi-era attack on German Jews.
The incident, which was captured on social media, has sparked outrage in Israel and across the world.
Around 20 to 30 people were injured, according to Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, with five people later released from hospital.
A total of 62 people were detained following the clashes in the city centre, of whom 10 were still in custody late on Friday, including two minors, public prosecutors said.
“At several locations in the city, fans were besieged, abused, and pelted with fireworks,” Halsema said, condemning the “anti-Semitic behaviour.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it had since established contact with all Israelis following the attacks, after initially reporting that it was unable to reach three of its citizens. (dpa/NAN)