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Following the Pogrom in Amsterdam, Europe Must Act Now to Protect Jews

Israeli football supporters are assaulted near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. Photo: X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Pogroms are events that many Jews once believed were confined to the darkest chapters of European history, relegated to memory and textbooks.
Yet, on November 7, 2024, a pogrom is precisely what we witnessed when Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam were ambushed, chased, and beaten by organized mobs.
Dutch authorities revealed that the attack was far from spontaneous; it had been meticulously orchestrated via WhatsApp, with a group chat calling for a “Jew hunt.” Targeting Jews everywhere is exactly what former Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh meant when he called to “globalize the intifada.”
The reality is stark: Europe — a continent that once prided itself on lessons learned from its past — is now witnessing those lessons unravel as antisemitic violence surges anew.
This incident in Amsterdam, following a year of rising antisemitic incidents across Europe, should have been a loud and clear wake-up call for European leaders. Yet the response has been woefully inadequate. As was the case in the immediate days following October 7, 2023, when antisemitic crimes escalated dramatically, much of the reaction has been confined to mere condemnations.
In the Netherlands, where the memory of the Holocaust and the nation’s failure to protect its Jewish population during World War II remain a national scar, this recent wave of antisemitism feels particularly perilous. Dutch officials, including King Willem-Alexander and Amsterdam’s mayor, have expressed sorrow and regret, but the time for words has long passed.
Over the last year, we have seen a 245% increase in antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands, a staggering 1,000% rise in France, nearly 600% in the UK, and similar spikes across Europe and worldwide. This is not an isolated surge confined to one country but a dangerous new era for Jews throughout Europe.
The Dutch government — and European governments at large — must move beyond apologies. While such gestures have their place, they are insufficient in addressing the scale and urgency of this crisis.
We need action. On November 19, I joined a group of European government ministers, convened at AJC’s urging by French Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp, to propose urgent and immediate measures that European governments must take to protect their Jewish communities. Importantly, the group acknowledged that this meeting was merely a first step, and that much more remains to be done.
The European Union must acknowledge the unfolding crisis and elevate it to the highest priority level, including by convening an emergency meeting of European heads of state. This cannot be business as usual. Antisemitism is not a problem for Jews alone, but a societal cancer that threatens the stability, cohesion, and future of Europe itself.
Europe’s leaders must establish a comprehensive, zero-tolerance policy on antisemitism. For too long, European governments have allowed antisemitism to fester on their streets, in their universities, and within social and public institutions, creating an environment where it thrives unchecked and unpunished.
We need a unified and unyielding response, especially as anti-Zionism has become the new guise for antisemitism. The narrative that equates anti-Zionism with legitimate political discourse too often goes unchallenged, providing cover for violent rhetoric and actions against Jews.
Laws and policies across the continent must reflect that demonizing Israel is not only discriminatory but also dangerous, with immediate consequences for those who engage in this form of hate.
European leaders — with a continent-wide strategy — must also address the surge of Islamist antisemitism specifically, recognizing that it presents a direct threat to both Jewish communities and Europe at large, including Muslim communities themselves.
Islamism is a weaponized, extremist political interpretation of Islam in which anti-Jewish hate is central. It is the ideology that drives Hamas and that sadly also has footholds in some parts of European Muslim communities. Leaders must confront the complex layers of this issue, from foreign funding that promotes divisive ideologies to the radicalization occurring within communities and to social media, and take steps to ensure that antisemitic violence — under any form or justification — is eradicated.
This issue is neither recent nor isolated; it is the result of longstanding challenges with integration and the manipulation of vulnerable communities by foreign and domestic actors in mosques, through community organizations, and even at home, by extremist groups on social media and antisemitic discourse promoted on foreign TV channels. These forces exploit failures in integration policies, using divisive narratives to incite hatred against Jews under the guise of solidarity with Palestinian causes.
The attack in Amsterdam, along with the surge of Islamist antisemitism and antisemitic incidents more broadly across Europe, must be recognized as an urgent warning. Without a full-scale campaign of enforcement, protection, and justice, Europe risks seeing that the “globalization of the Intifada” not only threatens Jews, but society at large.
Antisemitism is not simply a “Jewish issue;” it is a fundamental societal issue — one that demands a whole-of-society approach.
Amsterdam cannot remain a tragic headline or a cautionary tale. This is the moment for Europe to rise to its ideals and demonstrate that it will not tolerate hatred in any form — especially not under the guise of political discourse or religious conviction.
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen is the Managing Director of AJC Europe, overseeing AJC’s offices in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Prague, Rome, Sofia and Central Europe.
The post Following the Pogrom in Amsterdam, Europe Must Act Now to Protect Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.