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Israeli Soccer Fans Retain Legal Counsel After Facing Antisemitic Violent Attacks in Amsterdam
People attend a rally near the Amsterdam City Hall in support of Israel and protest against the recent series of antisemitic incidents in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on Nov. 28, 2024. Photo: Teun Voeten/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
More than 47 fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv who were targeted during the antisemitic violence that took place in Amsterdam in November have obtained legal counsel from The Lawfare Project, the international Jewish civil rights organization announced last week.
The Lawfare Project, a US-based global network of legal professionals, has been retained to provide strategic legal counsel to victims of the premeditated and coordinated attack that took place on Nov. 7 after a soccer match in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch soccer team Ajax.
The Lawfare Project’s representation “focuses on combating rising antisemitism and advocating publicly for justice on behalf of the victims,” the organization said in a press release. It has yet to file a lawsuit on behalf of the victims and is currently reviewing legal options after helping clients also secure local counsel in Amsterdam, the organization told The Algemeiner. Peter Plasman, a partner at the Amsterdam-based law firm Kötter L’Homme Plasman, will serve as co-counsel.
“Our 47 clients have called for the court to convict the suspects and ensure that they are held financially accountable for the harm they have caused,” said Plasman. “While there were discussions about postponing the trial, I firmly believe we must move forward now to send a strong message: justice must prevail, and society must not tolerate such hatred.”
“The brutal assault on Jewish individuals in Amsterdam last month is just the latest example of the alarming rise of antisemitism in Europe,” added Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of The Lawfare Project. “Since the horrific events of October 7, 2023, Jews worldwide have been increasingly targeted with violence, harassment, and discrimination. We are calling on governments across Europe to take immediate action to protect their Jewish communities and ensure that those responsible for these attacks are held accountable.”
After the Nov. 7 soccer match as part of the UEFA Europa League, anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian gangs violently attacked fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv on the streets of Amsterdam. Israeli soccer fans were chased by assailants carrying knives and sticks, run over by cars, physically assaulted, and some were forced by their attackers to say “Free Palestine.” Some Israelis barricaded themselves in buildings, shops, and other places in the city to avoid the attacks. A number of the victims were hospitalized.
Amsterdam’s mayor called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” and said the assailants were going “Jew hunting.” Both former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and current Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called the violence a “pogrom.”
Dutch police have already identified and launched investigations into at least 45 suspects in connection to the violent attacks. Last week, representatives from The Lawfare Project attended criminal proceedings in Amsterdam where evidence was presented against some of the suspected attackers. Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project, traveled to Amsterdam to attend a press conference on Dec. 11 and show support for the victims.
“Since October 7, 2023, Jews around the world have been subjected to a surge in antisemitic violence,” said Reich. “From American college campuses to European streets, anti-Israel and pro-Hamas extremists are systematically inciting hatred against Jews, disrupting the lives of innocent people, and fueling violence.”
The post Israeli Soccer Fans Retain Legal Counsel After Facing Antisemitic Violent Attacks in Amsterdam first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.