The Fort Worth Press - Lawmakers clash, protesters arrested in wake of Amsterdam violence

USD -
AED 3.672969
AFN 68.452776
ALL 93.048382
AMD 387.640271
ANG 1.816976
AOA 911.999875
ARS 998.283301
AUD 1.547269
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.702126
BAM 1.853558
BBD 2.03554
BDT 120.47462
BGN 1.859761
BHD 0.376864
BIF 2977.069937
BMD 1
BND 1.347372
BOB 6.966716
BRL 5.802269
BSD 1.008198
BTN 85.007628
BWP 13.679442
BYN 3.299388
BYR 19600
BZD 2.031743
CAD 1.400905
CDF 2865.000112
CHF 0.88987
CLF 0.035354
CLP 975.529899
CNY 7.244099
CNH 7.253535
COP 4485.54
CRC 514.803442
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.500739
CZK 24.026992
DJF 179.528977
DKK 7.08631
DOP 60.720649
DZD 133.549023
EGP 49.349197
ERN 15
ETB 123.045036
EUR 0.950165
FJD 2.275949
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.79031
GEL 2.729872
GGP 0.789317
GHS 16.281891
GIP 0.789317
GMD 70.999725
GNF 8688.564984
GTQ 7.790288
GYD 210.925357
HKD 7.78242
HNL 25.453012
HRK 7.133259
HTG 132.557467
HUF 386.651026
IDR 15947.2
ILS 3.739575
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.46635
IQD 1320.671566
IRR 42092.4992
ISK 138.980146
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.606126
JOD 0.709201
JPY 155.966499
KES 129.250046
KGS 86.376499
KHR 4084.669222
KMF 466.350206
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.409947
KWD 0.30763
KYD 0.840169
KZT 496.917485
LAK 22140.92783
LBP 90282.191378
LKR 294.669004
LRD 190.003316
LSL 18.110979
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.884614
MAD 10.024356
MDL 18.167085
MGA 4704.499792
MKD 58.497795
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.077563
MRU 40.134198
MUR 47.189719
MVR 15.449773
MWK 1748.170894
MXN 20.632095
MYR 4.480502
MZN 63.853315
NAD 18.111065
NGN 1684.480171
NIO 37.103202
NOK 11.172475
NPR 136.037189
NZD 1.705757
OMR 0.385009
PAB 1.008188
PEN 3.821032
PGK 4.052389
PHP 58.845008
PKR 280.117898
PLN 4.121025
PYG 7868.075629
QAR 3.675651
RON 4.726899
RSD 111.120964
RUB 100.003324
RWF 1383.771182
SAR 3.755984
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.618751
SDG 601.501263
SEK 11.03656
SGD 1.345935
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.814989
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 576.121157
SRD 35.279753
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.821536
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.116684
THB 35.03303
TJS 10.742031
TMT 3.51
TND 3.173168
TOP 2.342098
TRY 34.349165
TTD 6.851191
TWD 32.5908
TZS 2665.000304
UAH 41.650176
UGX 3699.912809
UYU 42.505402
UZS 12897.570037
VES 45.715443
VND 25400
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 621.665908
XAG 0.033377
XAU 0.000392
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.759506
XOF 621.6718
XPF 113.025513
YER 249.793488
ZAR 18.347175
ZMK 9001.199227
ZMW 27.578069
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.9400

    59.25

    -1.59%

  • CMSC

    0.0150

    24.625

    +0.06%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1400

    6.97

    -2.01%

  • BCC

    0.7200

    143.27

    +0.5%

  • NGG

    0.2200

    62.34

    +0.35%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    27.3

    +0.33%

  • SCS

    0.0350

    13.405

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    -0.1310

    60.489

    -0.22%

  • GSK

    0.0800

    35.19

    +0.23%

  • RELX

    0.1780

    46.298

    +0.38%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.24

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.0350

    24.765

    +0.14%

  • BTI

    0.1450

    35.565

    +0.41%

  • BP

    0.3000

    28.87

    +1.04%

  • AZN

    0.0850

    65.375

    +0.13%

  • VOD

    0.0250

    8.775

    +0.28%

Lawmakers clash, protesters arrested in wake of Amsterdam violence
Lawmakers clash, protesters arrested in wake of Amsterdam violence / Photo: © ANP/AFP

Lawmakers clash, protesters arrested in wake of Amsterdam violence

Dutch parliamentarians clashed in a heated debate Wednesday as they addressed last week's attacks on Israeli football fans, while police in Amsterdam arrested pro-Palestinian protesters who again defied a ban on demonstrations in the wake of the violence.

Text size:

The Netherlands is still dealing with the political fallout from last week's violence that followed a Maccabi Tel Aviv match against home club Ajax in the capital, when Maccabi supporters were assaulted by men on scooters.

Five Maccabi fans were briefly hospitalised after being beaten up in what Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof termed an incident of "unadulterated anti-Semitism".

After the match, groups of men on scooters engaged in "hit-and-run" attacks on Maccabi fans in several areas of the city.

Police said the attackers were mobilised by calls on social media to target Jewish people.

Far-right MP Geert Wilders, leader of the biggest party in the coalition government, said the perpetrators of the violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were "all Muslims" and "for the most part Moroccans".

The anti-Islam Wilders called for the attackers to be prosecuted "for terrorism."

"For the first time since the Second World War there was a hunt on Jews," Wilders said, adding, "I am sick of being criticised when I tell the truth."

But the firebrand MP drew the ire of opposition parties, who accused him of "adding fuel to the fire" and pointing the finger at an entire group.

As the debate was still ongoing hours later, several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Amsterdam's famous Dam Square, wearing Palestinian scarves and chanting slogans.

The demonstration "is really all about our freedom of speech and protecting each other," protester Sam van Urk, 33, told AFP.

"I don't believe that even the lowest level of violence is a solution," added another protester who only identified herself as "Hiba".

Amsterdam "is tense, it's a lot for everyone," she told AFP.

The demonstration went ahead despite a security ban on protests by the city's mayor which is in place until noon on Thursday.

The demonstrators were dragged off to waiting buses, AFP correspondents saw after they refused to leave the square when told they could protest elsewhere in the city.

- 'Dividing the country' -

In parliament, left-wing parties unanimously condemned the violence, calling for dialogue with the Muslim community instead of "dividing the country".

"I share the condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam and yes, there was indeed anti-Semitic violence," left-wing opposition leader Frans Timmermans said.

"You are simply stoking the fires while this country has a need for politicians to unite people and find solutions," Timmermans told Wilders.

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema on Tuesday called the attacks a "poisonous cocktail" of anti-Semitism and hooliganism.

Events ahead of the match heightened tensions, including anti-Arab chants by Maccabi fans, who also set fire to a Palestinian flag on the city's central square and vandalised a taxi.

After the match, which passed off peacefully, reports emerged of social media calls to attack Jews, Amsterdam police said.

The violence took place against the backdrop of an increasingly polarised Europe, with heightened tensions following a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic attacks since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

- 'Connection under strain ' -

A representative of Amsterdam's Muslim community said its members were feeling a lot of pressure as a result of the aftermath of the attacks.

"We are at a point where our connection as Amsterdammers is under strain," Achraf El Johari said.

"We don't dispute that there was indeed talk of Jew hating... but you can't draw a line back to include a whole group," he told the AT5 television station.

The Dutch PM indicated that the government would present concrete steps to tackle anti-Semitism on Friday.

Eight people remained in custody over the violence last week and police could not immediately say how many protesters were detained on Wednesday.

P.Navarro--TFWP