Posted on 11/11/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
The police in Amsterdam have been criticized for failing to respond adequately to the antisemitic pogrom in Amsterdam on Thursday night. However, some of the Israeli victims of the pogrom have stated that there were police officers who participated in the hours-long attack on Israeli soccer fans, Channel 12 News reported.
One such witness, Ariel, said that he got off the train with his friend at the end of the soccer match that evening. They encountered a migrant with a Palestinian flag who shouted at them but they ignored him and reached the main square on the way to their hotel. In the square, thousands of Muslims were waiting for them who shouted at them and cursed them, and after a few minutes, the crowd started running after them and after other fans.
At one of the corners, Ariel and his friend noticed policemen standing on the side of the street. They approached them and asked for help but instead of helping them, the policeman hit Ariel with his baton. "The police shouted at us and the policeman hit me with the baton he had in his hand and injured my leg. My leg changed color. He tried to give me another blow and attack me but I managed to run away," Ariel said.
"We continued to run and the immigrants continued to chase us and attack us. My friends were kicked and punched. The police were not there and did nothing. We had to defend ourselves by ourselves. Only after everything blew up in the media did they escort us from the hotel to the airport and try to give us a sense of security. All I did was ask the policeman for help and he hit me," Ariel added.
Yeheli Eliasi, 14, traveled with his brother and grandfather to the game in Amsterdam, and all three of them encountered an angry crowd outside the train after the game. "After we crossed the road towards the hotel, a firecracker was thrown at us which fell into the water and caused a very loud noise," he said.
Yeheli said that more firecrackers were thrown at him and his family every 30 seconds or so and that their attackers constantly cursed at them. They found a bed frame and took the legs from it, "for self-defense only," he stated.
They continued to hold the bed frame pieces as they ran towards their hotel. "Suddenly, two cars arrived with undercover policemen in them who were going to arrest us. They told us to lie on the floor, put down the sticks and started kicking us. I was kicked in the hand, my grandfather was kicked in the leg and my little brother started crying from fear," Yeheli said.
The three tried to explain to the policemen that they only took the sticks to protect themselves on the way to the hotel, "One of the policemen considered our situation and asked the other policemen to take us to the hotel. They agreed, but as soon as we got into the car we were surprised to see stickers saying 'Palestine liberation against Israel.' In the end, we managed to reach the hotel, but throughout the night we heard booms, shouts, and migrants under our window," he added.