Court Sentences Perpetrators of Amsterdam ‘Pogrom’ to Prison

A court has handed prison sentences to individuals involved in the Amsterdam ‘pogrom,’ delivering justice for the violent incident that sparked international condemnation.

An Amsterdam court has issued sentences to five individuals involved in last month’s clashes between Dutch and Israeli football fans, an incident that Israeli officials referred to as a pogrom.

The conflicts broke out on November 7 after a match between the local team Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv. The violence emerged amidst heightened anti-Israeli feelings linked to the war in Gaza. Several assailants were seen carrying Palestinian flags and chanting antisemitic slogans.

On Tuesday, the court convicted five Dutch nationals for acts of violence against Israelis. Four individuals received prison sentences ranging from one to six months each, while the fifth was sentenced to 100 hours of community service.

The court discovered video evidence of attacks on Maccabi fans, but it also observed footage showing Israeli supporters tearing down Palestinian flags, chanting anti-Arab slogans, and vandalizing cabs.

Despite conflicting reports about the specific incident that sparked the unrest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attacks on Israeli fans as a “horrific antisemitic incident,” while President Isaac Herzog referred to them as “an antisemitic pogrom.”

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema attributed the unrest to “a toxic mix of antisemitism, football hooliganism, and frustration over the conflict in Palestine and Israel as well as other regions of the Middle East.”

Halsema later expressed to the media that she regretted using the term “pogrom” to describe the clashes. She acknowledged, “I observed how ‘pogrom’ turned into a political tool and essentially became propaganda.” She further argued that this word was often employed to discriminate against Muslims residing in the Netherlands.