Farrukh Abadi
For two days late last week, street battles ensued between the masses and provocateur Israeli Zionists in Amsterdam. The events unfolded around a soccer game between the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax, which saw thousands of Israelis fly into Amsterdam, including IDF soldiers returning from their genocide in Gaza.
The day before the game, Israelis tore down Palestinian flags and beat an Arab taxi driver and vandalized his car. During the soccer game, Israelis chanted genocidal anti-Arab chants such as, “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left”. Even during a moment of silence honoring the hundreds of victims killed in the recent floods in Spain the Israelis continued their provocations.
Mass mobilizations quickly took place to counter the fascist attacks. Some successfully surrounded and attacked Zionist instigators, while others employed hit and run tactics using scooters. In one video, Israelis attempt to flee as fireworks are shot at them and one person shouts, “This is Gaza. Now you know how it feels.” Protesters also used fireworks against the police, who protected the Zionist provocations. At one point, the police intervened at a casino where a large number of Zionists were gathered after taxi cab drivers called for a mobilization in defense of the driver who was brutalized.
5 Israelis were hospitalized and later released while 20-30 others faced minor injuries. Some Israelis attempted to escape by jumping into the canal, with a handful reportedly missing for some time. Israel flew in at least 3 planes to “rescue” the Israelis after issuing a warning to cease their provocations to avoid getting beat up, showing the success of the masses in countering the genocidal provocateurs.
Palestinian resistance factions have praised the mobilizations. Hamas stated the “events confirm that the continuation of the holocaust in the Gaza Strip leads to these spontaneous repercussions”, while the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) noted “that the zionist entity has become globally isolated and reviled.”
While the government went to great lengths to protect the fascists, they were quick to suspend democratic rights for the pro-Palestine masses. A planned pro-Palestine demonstration was promptly banned by the state, and following the uprising, the state carried out no-warrant searches of suspected Palestinian supporters for three days in an attempt to stop the justified rebellion of the people.
At least 50 people were arrested among the masses. Revolutionaries in the Netherlands have called for their release and mass support in their defense.
Both Israeli and Dutch officials labeled the mass actions as antisemitic. The head of the biggest Dutch party in parliament called to deport “criminal Muslims” while some Israelis have called for pogroms and the mass burning of mosques.
Photo: Israelis tear down a Palestinian flag from a building in Netherlands. Retrieved from Resistance News Network on Telegram.
