The Amsterdam Riots and the Global Intifada

One of the most shocking aspects of the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis died, was the glee with which the Palestinian terrorists livestreamed their atrocities for the entire world. Just 13 months later, Jews on social media were again confronted with footage of an anti-Semitic rampage that rocked Amsterdam on Thursday evening after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

After the game, social media was flooded with videos of hundreds of hooting and cheering attackers marauding through the city, throwing Israeli soccer fans into the river, knocking them unconscious and forcing them to chant “Free Palestine” before continuing to attack them . “Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF,” some shouted as they identified the Israelis. Although Dutch authorities have arrested 62 suspects, the shockwaves from this incident will not subside anytime soon.

“We failed Dutch Jewry during the Holocaust, and tonight we failed you again,” the King of the Netherlands told Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Friday.

This was not the first anti-Jewish uprising since October 7th. Just a year ago, the world witnessed an anti-Semitic outbreak in Russia's North Caucasus region, where mobs stormed an airport in Dagestan to persecute Jewish passengers from Israel.

What makes the Amsterdam incident particularly disturbing is the fact that it occurred not in a distant, non-Western region, but in the heart of “enlightened” Europe, in a city known for its progressive ideals and cultural sophistication is. Even more worrying is that the attack appears to have been premeditated and carried out by telegraph, but no one in a position to stop it did so.

On Friday, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli posted on X that his office had forwarded several warnings to local Dutch authorities that had failed in their duty to protect civilians. On November 5th the Jerusalem Post reported that members of Mossad – Israel's national intelligence service – accompanied the approximately 2,600 Israeli fans who traveled to the Netherlands to provide additional security. This involvement led some conspiratorial journalists to believe that the incident was a false flag operation aimed at gaining support for Israel.

The Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit that monitors the spread of new threats, said several pro-Palestinian groups coordinated the attack on platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram. In other words, the alarm bells were ringing loud and clear, but no one was listening.

Despite overwhelming evidence pointing to a deliberate attack, some American media tried to portray the violence as an escalation of a brawl between opposing soccer fans, claiming Israeli fans tore down a Palestinian flag and chanted anti-Arab slogans before the game. Even if it is true – and it is still unclear whether it is true – nothing justifies hordes of bloodthirsty attackers rampaging through a city and attacking anyone they believe to be Israeli. To claim otherwise should be unthinkable in the 21st century. This is the West. People may say and do ugly things, but that never justifies the violence that occurred last night.

For their part, Deborah Lipstadt, the US special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, and the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, condemned the attack. The events in Amsterdam could easily be extrapolated to the United States, where American Jews have faced rising anti-Semitism since October 7th.

In fact, pro-Palestinian activists made an attempt last night Derail comedian Michael Rapaport's event in Chicagoby advertising flyers that read “Racists and Zionists are not welcome in our cities.” At the same time, pro-Palestinian groups in Bergenfield, New Jersey – home to a significant Jewish population – intimidated the community by chanting “Intifada” and brandishing images of Adolf Hitler.

This follows more than a year of sustained calls across the United States, from public squares to college campuses, where radical activists have shouted, “Globalize the Intifada.” The Intifada has indeed been globalized.

The leap from “Zionists are not welcome” and Hitler imagery to events like the Amsterdam shooting is not nearly as big as it seems. Just like in Amsterdam, the signs can also be seen in America. If only those in power would pay more attention. What happened in the Netherlands can easily happen in the USA. American officials and law enforcement must remain vigilant before the horrors of Amsterdam find their way to the United States

Photo by JEROEN JUMELET/ANP/AFP via Getty Images