Evening Edition: Israeli Soccer Fans Attacked By Mobs In Amsterdam
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Friday, November 8th, 2024. I'm Eben Brown. Israelis say they were hunted during mob riots in Amsterdam as they visited the Netherlands for a soccer game. Dutch government has flat out come out and said that this is an anti-Semitic crime, that multiple people were arrested. And there is horrifying video that seems to show people were hunted down, kicked in the face, stomped. This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. ♪♪

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This weekend marks 86 years since Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazi groups in 1938 rampaged through Jewish neighborhoods in Germany, Austria, and what is now much of the Czech Republic. At least 90 people were killed in this widespread series of pogroms, or lynchings, against Jews in the run-up to World War II.

So it has chilled the spines of Jews worldwide to hear that in Amsterdam, mobs of Arab migrants chased down, beat and injured Jews, Israelis, visiting to attend a soccer match featuring a professional club from Tel Aviv.

The riot lasted hours, captured on video, shared across social media. It prompted quick action by Israel's government, which is demanding answers and instant apologies and condemnation from the Netherlands government. You know, fear is the word. I've been here in Israel for about three weeks, and I've talked to several Jewish people here who say they have fled Europe. Fox's Matt Finn is in Tel Aviv. They have either moved here permanently or they've just been here long term, not permanently.

returning to their houses somewhere in Europe. I spoke to a mother and her teenage daughter coming from France. They said they simply do not feel safe there anymore. They don't feel comfortable enough to live there. So they have now moved here to Israel. And then today at the airport, I spoke to a gentleman who was at that soccer game last night where the anti-Semitic

mob erupted. And he said to me, point blank, he does not have any plans on returning to the Netherlands anytime soon. And he also named London as a place that is becoming increasingly scary for Jewish people. So a really tragic situation here in Israel.

Hearing the news, the way it came down, that there was more than these riots. I mean, these were pursuits in the streets of Amsterdam from everything that we have been able to hear. What has been the reaction of Israel's government? Part of what Israel's government does is it takes care of diaspora Jews. It's been part of its...

It's part of its mission ever since the State of Israel's founding is to assist and to even bring back, when necessary, Jews around the world who are being persecuted. They had to spring into action.

Yes, Netanyahu said he spoke to the government in the Netherlands. He has urged prosecutors and police there to investigate this as thoroughly as possible. Also, the Dutch government has flat out come out and said that this is an anti-Semitic crime, that multiple people were arrested. And there is horrifying video that seems to show people were hunted down, kicked in the face, stomped.

people who jumped into the historic canals in Amsterdam to escape,

for safety. And the gentleman I spoke to who was at the game last night said that he was running through dark alleyways with his sisters. He said that people were coming out of every corner trying to identify who was Jewish, who was Israeli, and then attacking them. He alleged they were using weapons, throwing them into the very cold water. And he said, of course, it triggered fears and memories of the Holocaust.

And he said he has no plans on returning to the Netherlands again. And then I also talked to the CEO of the Israeli soccer team, Maccabi Tel Aviv. And this is a gentleman who is an authority, who knows that there's a lot on the line when you go on the record and talk to international press. And he said point blank that he felt like this felt different.

different that because there is they are an israeli soccer team they were clearly targeted and now there is video uh out there that shows appears to show israeli fans uh tant or taunting uh arabs maybe perhaps even chanting slurs uh the palestinian flags were ripped down last night we we got that from firsthand accounts in this video that shows it so the question is okay was this

you know, a classic case of two teams coming against each other. Perhaps people were drinking, intoxicated. You know, this happens a lot. And there was some type of uproar and a riot. And certainly that may have happened. But afterwards or in the middle of that, there are a lot of these reports of, like you said, people being hunted down and targeted. And that's what this man said happened to him. He said he was basically running for his life. There have been other reports, eyewitness accounts that have been published, whether either in newsprint or our

This seems a bit more than a...

then, you know, something getting out of hand, something like that has to be plotted. Well, the man that we spoke to who was at the game said that Jewish people were absolutely being traced back and chased back to their hotels. And my understanding is that authorities were

urging Jewish people not to exit their hotels, you know, to find refuge in the hotels, also to perhaps avoid using cabs, because perhaps there would have been Arab or Muslim drivers driving those cabs. And so, you know, also the CEO of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team said that he felt like this was a targeted, a planned attack. The gentleman who was at the game last night said the same exact thing. And, you know, the man who was at the game said, look,

I believe that Jewish people did rip down the Palestinian flags. I understand that things get out of hand between two teams or between, you know, Muslims and Jews. However, he said what happened also, the use of weapons, throwing people into cold water, the pursuits. He goes, that was something different. He goes, and I basically ran for my life along with the sisters. And there's a lot of those types of accounts coming in.

Fox News correspondent Matt Finn is our guest. He is in Tel Aviv. We are speaking to him about what is being described as a pogrom in Amsterdam overnight, having to do with Israeli citizens visiting the city for a soccer game. On the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition, please like and subscribe. We'll have more straight ahead.

Yeah, there was some talk about sending the Israeli military for search and rescue. I think that has been called off, but there is an effort to get commercial or charter flights arranged for people to come back home to Israel. But there were also reports of the Israelis who were hurt not wanting to get medical care in Amsterdam, that they didn't trust it. So what's the scope of that, and what are the plans to get these Israeli citizens back home? Well, when we were at the airport in Tel Aviv,

Today, we counted six additional emergency flights. So initially, Israel did plan for their national airline, El Al, to add multiple emergency, basically rescue flights to go to the Netherlands and recover anybody who was still there. And that's ongoing right now. And then some other Israeli, at least one other Israeli airline joined. So at our last count, there were

six additional flights added today to go to the Netherlands to bring home anybody who is still there. And we did see the soccer team arrive and we did see some of the people who were at the game arrive into the airport. And there was a lot of international press waiting for them, a lot of interest in this. Again, the CEO of the soccer team spoke to us on the record and said he felt like this was a targeted attack. There has been a statement made by the King of the Netherlands saying

And he says that Dutch Jewry, they had disappointed Dutch Jews during the Holocaust and that they have, I'm paraphrasing this, but they have done it again. There's going to be a reckoning, I would think, between the leadership of the Netherlands, whether it's from the monarchy, whether it's the prime minister,

as well as the Israeli government, the president, the prime minister there. This is going to be more than just one phone call, I would imagine. Yes, this has now grabbed international attention. You know, I'm covering it here on Fox News Radio and on the Fox News Channel. And, you know, I spoke to an advocate yesterday.

anti-Semitism here today. And she said point blank, you know, this happened in the town where Anne Frank was murdered and that is not lost on Jewish people today. And one of the gentlemen who was at the game last night, he did call it a program. He said it's unbelievable because it was not a usual clash between fans. This was meant to harm Jews. Anne Frank was in hiding in Amsterdam for, I think, more than a year with her family. She died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, but she

But Amsterdam is famous for hosting still the building where she hid with her family in what was known as the Annex. And it's not just a tourist spot, but it's almost like a pilgrimage place for so many people to come and pay their respects. And so this happening there was...

It was actually, I think, one of the first things I thought of the moment we heard that this was happening. Matt Finn, you are in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for being with us on the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. Thank you.

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