AMSTERDAM

Israeli fan groups were responsible for the violent disturbances surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv UEFA Europa League match in Amsterdam last week, said a senior member of an anti-Zionist Jewish group.

In an interview with Anadolu, Anna Joseph, Leadership Council member of Erev Rav, a Jewish collective in the Netherlands, clarified that Israel and Judaism are distinct concepts. She stressed that Israel is a state encompassing multiple religions and ethnicities, while "Judaism is a religion. These two things are not the same. And when they get conflated, it endangers all of us, both Jews and those who defend Palestinian rights."

Joseph described several disturbing incidents surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv match. She claimed that Israeli Maccabi fans vandalized property, tore down a Palestinian flag, and burned it in a public square. She also said they assaulted a taxi driver and sang racist and genocidal songs on public transportation.

"Members of the Palestinian community, Muslims, and other people of color were not feeling safe. This had been reported to the government and they did nothing to stop it, nor did they do anything to stop these groups of Israeli soccer fans," she added.

Joseph criticized the Dutch government's response to the violence, noting its description of subsequent events as "anti-Semitism." She said: "The government described any violence against Israelis as anti-Semitism and compared it to a pogrom. This is not a pogrom."

The Dutch police were also slow to intervene, she said.

"I don't think the Dutch police intervened appropriately. They should have stopped the Maccabi fans when they were violent at the beginning of the week, so we wouldn't have seen the escalation at the end of the week," she said.

Mainstream media distorts facts

Joseph also said the mainstream media misrepresents events. "There’s a lot of propaganda that tries to portray anything that criticizes Israel as anti-Semitic. This is not Jewish propaganda, it is Zionist propaganda. Zionism is support for Israel."

Zionist propaganda attempts to silence criticism of Israel by labeling it as anti-Semitic, she said, adding that in fact many Jews worldwide oppose Israel’s actions and even its existence as a state.

The voices of these Jews are often ignored or dismissed in mainstream narratives that equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. According to Joseph, Jews who opposed the establishment of Israel in 1948 are often erased from history.

Criticizing Israel’s policies does not negate one's Jewish identity, ad Israel and Judaism are not synonymous, she said.

Joseph argued that this distinction is vital for understanding the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the broader debate on Israel’s role in the world.

Last Friday, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans caused chaos by attacking Palestinian supporters before and during a UEFA Europa League match against Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Israeli fan groups removed Palestinian flags from Amsterdam streets and attacked Arab taxi drivers with sticks, assuming they were supporters of Palestine.

Israeli fans continued their protests and chants during a minute of silence held for victims of floods in Spain before the match. They also chanted anti-Arab and genocidal slogans both around the stadium and on the streets.

A total of 63 people were detained in connection with the events surrounding the match.

*Writing by Emre Asikci in Istanbul