Israeli football hooligans tore down Palestinian flags as they marched through Amsterdam in a Wednesday evening of chaos ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s visit to Ajax.
Videos show dozens of hooded figures dressed all in black cheering and shouting “f*** you Palestine” and “ole” as someone climbed halfway up the facade of a building and removed a flag on Rokin, a major street .
Footage also shows a thug bashing a taxi with a crowbar before the driver leaves, while clashes have been reported between the visiting hooligans and taxi drivers.
Meanwhile, clips shared by a prominent pro-hooligan page show bust-ups that allegedly took place between Maccabi fans and a group of Moroccan Ajax supporters. The account has previously shared credible information, such as when Manchester United fans were attacked by Fenerbahce ultras in Istanbul in October.
Amsterdam police have made no arrests and have not confirmed that the perpetrators were definitively Maccabi fans, despite tensions in the city center.
Israeli football hooligans tore down Palestinian flags in Amsterdam on Wednesday, ahead of the match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax on Thursday
The police say they ‘prevented a confrontation between a group of taxi drivers and a group of visitors who came from the adjacent casino’.
Mail Sport was unable to find any footage of drivers and fans clashing face-to-face, although one source online described a coalition of taxi and Uber motorists ‘beating them out of town’.
‘Intimidation and vandalism in our city: a Maccabi hooligan damages a taxi. This kind of violence against hardworking drivers is unacceptable. Time to make Amsterdam safe again,” a driver wrote on X.
Neither Ajax nor Maccabi Tel Aviv have commented on the unrest ahead of their Europa League match on Thursday evening.
Ajax is a club with strong Jewish roots. Most of the Jewish population of the Netherlands lived in Amsterdam before World War II. Their old stadium used to be located next to Amsterdam-Oost, a heavily Jewishly populated district. During the 1960s and 1970s, several of the club’s presidents and players were Jewish.
They have had to deal with anti-Semitic chants in recent seasons. Vitesse apologized in 2021 after a group of supporters started shouting ‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews on the gas’ prior to a match with Ajax.
Authorities in the Dutch capital have already banned a pro-Palestine demonstration planned to take place at Ajax’s Johan Cruyff Arena.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema told AT5 that “violent confrontations are a realistic prospect” and that the police could not find a way to conduct the demonstration on the ground safely.
A prominent pro-hooligan page claimed to show footage of rival fans fighting each other
Large groups of supporters marched through the streets of central Amsterdam on Wednesday
The Amsterdam police have promised to be ‘extra alert’ in the run-up to a planned demonstration near the Ajax stadium
A supporter of Maccabi Tel Aviv had to shout ‘Free Palestine’ into the river
However, the protesters, part of an event called Week4Palestine, have been given an alternative location to stage their rally on Anton de Koplein, just a few hundred meters from the ground.
The Week4Palestine protesters have agreed to the alternative location from 7 p.m., writing on Instagram: ‘We have no other choice.
It also appears that the activists took revenge on the Maccabi Tel Aviv troublemakers on Wednesday evening.
One video on Week4Palestine’s Instagram shows a man, reportedly an Israeli fan, floating in the Amstel River, which runs in a network of canals through the city. It is not clear how he got there.
A voice shouts from the riverbank: ‘Say free Palestine and we will go.’ The man in the river follows the order.
The caption read: ‘If the mayor doesn’t do her job, the people of the city will have to do it themselves!
‘Who is street? Oh yes, our street. A Zionist got free swimming lessons.’ The post was accompanied by a giggling emoji.
The controversy in Amsterdam comes after Paris Saint-Germain fans were criticized for unveiling a giant ‘Free Palestine’ tifo in their Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening.
Protesters made their voices heard last week during a demonstration on Dam Square
PSG fans unfurled a huge ‘Free Palestine’ banner before their match against Atletico Madrid
A protest was planned at Ajax’s Johan Cruyff Stadium, but was moved a few hundred meters away for fear of ‘violent confrontations’
The gigantic banner spread over thousands of seats in the Auteuil Kop in the Parcs des Princes, almost covering the stands from top to bottom. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called it ‘unacceptable’ and PSG could now face sanctions. France will play Israel in the Nations League next week.
The banner depicted the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. It is seen as a symbol of Palestinian identity and its name has been used by Hamas to justify their attacks, as they believe the Jewish people have threatened its sanctity.
There was also provocation last season when Fiorentina supporters waved Palestinian flags as they played Maccabi Haifa, another Israeli team, in the Europa Conference League.
Ajax has told its supporters to leave politics at home and not to see ‘flags from conflict areas or other political expressions’ in the Johan Cruijff Arena.
The Ajax Supporters Delegation, a fan group, has also opposed the display of political flags and threatens to ‘intervene’ if necessary.
They wrote: ‘There are intense conflicts, wars and other terrible situations going on in the world. However, in the Johan Cruijff ArenA it is about our club and our city and we strive for solidarity.
‘We do not want to see flags from conflict areas and other political expressions during the Europa League match between our own Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv FC.
‘We will not tolerate this both inside and outside the stadium and will intervene where necessary. Football is not politics.’