A 33-year-old Londoner has recounted the harrowing experience of being attacked and hospitalised after intervening in an assault on an Israeli man in Amsterdam last Thursday evening.
The incident occurred following a Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax. The post-match violence saw Maccabi fans targeted by a group of attackers shouting pro-Palestinian slogans.
The victim, a father-of-two from Hendon, shared his ordeal with Jewish News, describing how the events unfolded. “We left the game early to meet a friend and as we approached the bar area, chaos erupted. Mopeds emerged from alleyways, and a group surrounded an Israeli man,” he said. “The man was on the ground, his head pinned between a curb and a metal gate, being violently kicked.”
Aaron and his friend Jacob, a father-of-three from Golders Green, stepped in to help, attempting to push the attackers away.
Their intervention was met with increased violence. “We thought it was over,” Aaron recounted, “but moments later, the group came back and confronted us, asking, ‘Are you Yehudi? Are you Jewish?’”
Jacob recalled the attackers demanding to see their passports. Despite denying they were Israeli, the harassment continued and quickly escalated. “I told him to leave the man alone and the next thing I knew, I was punched in the face,” Aaron said. “It was so sudden. My glasses shattered, my nose split open, and there was blood everywhere.”
Following the initial punch, around 20 more assailants joined in, attacking Aaron. “I stood my ground and said, ‘What you’re doing is why you’re not getting any support,’” he recounted. One of the gang members, realising Aaron was British, told the others to stop, but another retorted, “Yes, but he helped a Jew.”
“They were angry because I helped a Jew,” Aaron explained.
Police arrived approximately 45 minutes after the incident, despite having maintained a significant presence before the game. “Before the match, they seemed prepared,” Aaron noted. “Afterwards, it felt like they were afraid.”
Aaron stated that the attackers were specifically targeting Jews, not just Israelis. “They knew exactly what they were doing. It wasn’t random. It was organised. They wanted Jewish blood.”
Aaron received emergency stitches at a local hospital and reflected on his decision to help. “I’m glad I stepped in. I’m relieved they didn’t hurt me further. I felt terrible for the Israelis,” he said. He also mentioned that one of the attackers approached him post-assault to apologise, saying, “Sorry, we thought you were a Zionist.”
Jacob described the atmosphere as volatile, with gangs “looking for blood.” He dismissed any notion that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans provoked the attack, calling the violence “completely ridiculous.”
“This is a wake-up call,” Jacob said. “It could happen in the UK too. They wanted to kill that man. They were stamping on his head. I just picked him up and shouted, ‘Leave him alone,’ and they ran off.”
The Community Security Trust (CST) condemned the violence and expressed “disgust” at the attack, pledging support to the Dutch Jewish community.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis responded to the events, calling the scenes in Amsterdam “utterly devastating.” He stated, “Hateful mobs have chased down Jewish and Israeli football fans on the streets of Amsterdam after a match, violently attacking them and sharing the footage on social media. Many are injured and three people are currently missing.”
Rabbi Mirvis urged that this event be a “watershed moment” for Europe and the global community, stressing the need to confront rising anti-Jewish hatred. “Tragically, I fear this won’t be the last such attack,” he said. Photo by FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands, Wikimedia commons.