The recent incidents involving fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam serve as a stark reminder of a recurring double standard in European discourse regarding Israel amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Traveling for a Europa League match against Ajax on Thursday, Maccabi fans rampaged through the city, tearing down Palestinian flags, and engaged in aggressive anti-Palestinian chants ahead of the game.
“There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children in Gaza,” was one of the chants that was heard throughout the city ahead of the match, and the visiting fans even jeered the minute of silence held for the victims of the recent Valencia floods.
As a result, a number of scuffles ensued in the streets of Amsterdam with rival fans and members of the Arab community, not uncommon when fans travel in large groups for European football matches, and some were injured.
But only the latter fact prompted European media and political figures to label the incident an anti-Semitic provocation. Some even callously labelled these incidents as “pogroms”, like Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Free Press editor Bari Weiss.
And of course, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen chimed in, saying that she was “outraged by last night’s vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam” and that she is “determined to fight all forms of hatred” despite ignoring the hatred and literal acts of genocide of Palestinians.
The same opinion was shared by vice-president of the European Commission Josep Borrell who claimed that “any manifestation of antisemitism or racism is unacceptable”.
Outraged by last night’s vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam.
I just spoke with @MinPres Schoof.
I strongly condemn these unacceptable acts.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 8, 2024
What is curious is that actual right-wing extremist behaviour from football fans in Europe, like that of Italian club Lazio, who are renowned for blatant anti-Semitic actions, have never garnered comparable scrutiny from politicians or media outlets.
This selective outrage reflects a clear targeted effort to bolster support and sympathy for Israel as a whole, at a time when Europeans grow increasingly aware of the injustices Palestinians are suffering in Gaza.
We’re not here to defend violence against anyone but the glaringly obvious and sinister media response cannot go unchecked.
Ultimately, we continue our call for Israeli clubs to be banned from UEFA competitions and the national team to be banned from UEFA and FIFA competitions. So far, over 112,000 people have signed our petition calling to suspend Israel from international sporting competitions.
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