Echo dark moments in history: Biden condemns Amsterdam attacks on Israelis

US President Joe Biden on Friday (local time) condemned the recent attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam Friday, calling the incident "despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted."

Biden said he has been in touch with Israeli and Dutch officials and that he appreciates "Dutch authorities' commitment to holding the perpetrators accountable."

In a post on X, Biden said, "The Antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam are despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted. We've been in touch with Israeli and Dutch officials and appreciate Dutch authorities' commitment to holding the perpetrators accountable. We must relentlessly fight Antisemitism, wherever it emerges."

 

His statement comes a day after Israeli soccer fans were assaulted by young people in hit-and-run scooter attacks. Dutch authorities said the incident was likely a result of calls on social media to attack Jewish people.

The state of Israel in a post on X condemned the attacks and recalled the attack on Jews during the Nazi rule in Germany.

"Hundreds of fans of Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club were ambushed and brutally attacked in Amsterdam last night after the match against AFC Ajax. Mobs chanted anti-Israel slogans and proudly shared videos of their violent acts on social media--kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens. On the eve of Kristallnacht--when Jews in Nazi Germany faced brutal attacks--it is horrifying to witness antisemitic violence on the streets of Europe once again. Israeli PM Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced Israel is sending an aid mission, including two rescue planes."  Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will not accept any harm to Jews anywhere in the world.

As per The Times of Israel, the fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked in the streets of Amsterdam after they lost to Amsterdam's team Ajax. The attackers were allegedly shouting slogans of "free Palestine" and were carrying Palestinian flags.

The Times of Israel, quoting certain Hebrew media outlets, said that some of the Israelis' passports were stolen and several of them were injured.

Netanyahu said in a statement during his visit to the Israeli Foreign Ministry that the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht was "marked on the streets of Amsterdam".

"Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht, when Jews on European soil were attacked for being Jews. This has now recurred," Netanyahu said referring to the events of November 9, 1938, a Nazi pogrom that acted as a catalyst in the persecution of Jews that eventually led to the killing of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust, as per The Times of Israel.