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Jewish, Israeli Organizations Mobilize to Aid Victims of Antisemitic Attacks in Amsterdam
Israeli soccer fans under assault, near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Jewish and Israeli organizations mobilized to support victims with efforts on the ground just hours after Israeli soccer fans were attacked by mobs in Amsterdam on Thursday night and into Friday morning.
Maccabi World Union (MWU), which describes itself as “the world’s largest Jewish sports and education organization,” opened an emergency assistance center in Holland to aid fans who were still there.
“Maccabi World Union and Maccabi Israel are working together with Maccabi Holland to assist Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam,” MWU wrote in a statement on Instagram. “A support center has been set up at the offices of Maccabi Holland, and volunteers are ready to transport fans to the center if needed.”
The center, which was visited by the mayor of Amsterdam, has reportedly helped hundreds of fans who are receiving support until they board flights to Israel. The assistance fans have received includes transportation, hotel lodging, food, and security.
Chabad in Amsterdam also assisted following the attacks. The Hasidic group posted on X on Friday, “Chabad emissaries coordinated hundreds of volunteers from the Jewish community in Amsterdam, picking up stranded and wounded Jews from across the city all, and bringing them to the shelter.”
It added, “From there, they were able to fly out on an emergency return flight to Israel. Others will be spending Shabbat with Chabad.”
The Jewish Agency also offered to support the victims. The organization’s chairman, Major General (res.) Doron Almog, said, “We are shocked by the attack on Jews and Israelis simply because of their Jewish identity in the streets of Amsterdam, exactly 86 years after Kristallnacht [the infamous Nazi assault on the German Jewish community]. We will expand the program to strengthen communities and increase their resilience, to ensure that every Jew, anywhere in the world, will never feel alone.”
Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass,” unfolded on Nov. 9-10, 1938, when Nazi forces and German civilians destroyed Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues, leaving at least 91 Jews dead and 30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps. Over 7,000 Jewish-owned stores were looted.
Almost 86 years later to the exact day, hundreds of Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv reported facing a wave of violence from antisemitic, anti-Israel gangs of men late Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday. They were attacked before and after Maccabi Tel Aviv lost its match against the Dutch soccer team AFC Ajax as part of the UEFA Europa League.
Numerous graphic videos circulating on social media showed several street fights and Israelis being chased down the street with knives and sticks, beaten unconscious, and even run over by cars. In multiple incidents shared on social media, Israeli soccer fans were forced by their attackers to say “Free Palestine.” Some Israelis reportedly barricaded themselves in buildings, shops, and other places in the city to avoid the attacks.
“So far, it is known that five people have been taken to the hospital and 62 individuals have been arrested,” Amsterdam Police said in a statement.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands expressed “deep horror and shock” over the attack during a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to a readout from Herzog’s office. The king also said, “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”
Some observers argued the attacks were premeditated against the Israelis, while others claimed it was retaliation for some Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in the streets before the game and tearing down at least two Palestinian flags in the city.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had been “attacked, abused, and pelted with fireworks” around the city by “antisemitic hit-and-run squads.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered planes to be dispatched to the Dutch city to bring the fans home to Israel.
“In light of the recent events in Amsterdam, our hearts go out to the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans who faced such distressing circumstances,” MWU wrote. “It’s a stark reminder of the challenges faced by communities worldwide.”
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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