An Austrian bishop says the beating and taunting of a group of Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week evoked Kristallnacht, “the darkest and most shameful days of our own history”. Source: CNA.
Following a soccer match Thursday night between a Dutch and an Israeli team, at least 10 young men on scooters sought out Israeli fans, verbally and physically assaulting them with punches and kicks, and then quickly fled the scene.
“They shouted ‘Jewish, Jewish, IDF, IDF,’” a 24-year-old victim told the BBC. The IDF, Israel Defense Forces, is the nation’s military.
Another victim said the assailants shouted “Palestine” while pummelling him.
Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, characterised the violence as an “eruption of anti-Semitism,” while Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the attacks “unacceptable” and vowed to hold perpetrators accountable.
Austrian bishops’ conference president Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg described the incident as a “deeply alarming sign.”
He noted that the incident in Amsterdam happened just days prior to the annual commemorations of Kristallnacht, the brutal pogrom the Nazis perpetrated against Jews in Germany, the annexed country of Austria, and other Nazi-controlled areas.
Throughout November 9 and 10, 1938, the Nazis attacked Jews and vandalised and destroyed hundreds of Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes.
Archbishop Lackner called for prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine. He added that any ideology, including religious or political opinion, that permits or justifies violence against Jews has no place in society.
“We must stand up against this,” he said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the incident on social media as an “antisemitic pogrom.” The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, reportedly called Mr Herzog to apologise for the incident.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government swiftly arranged special flights to evacuate Jewish people from Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday.
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Austrian bishop calls anti-Semitic incident in Amsterdam a ‘deeply alarming sign’ (By Jonah McKeown, CNA)
