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Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at anti-Jewish violence in the Netherlands, global concerns ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, and China’s new stimulus measures.
‘Hit-and-Run Squads’
Overnight antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam left at least five people hospitalized on Friday. According to the Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands, hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were attacked after Thursday’s match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at anti-Jewish violence in the Netherlands, global concerns ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, and China’s new stimulus measures.
‘Hit-and-Run Squads’
Overnight antisemitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam left at least five people hospitalized on Friday. According to the Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands, hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were attacked after Thursday’s match against Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club.
“Mobs chanted anti-Israel slogans and proudly shared videos of their violent acts on social media—kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens,” the embassy posted on X. Online footage shows some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs. Riot police were deployed to escort the Maccabi fans safely back to their hotels, and police detained more than 60 suspects, 10 of whom remain in custody as of this writing.
Tensions were already high ahead of the match: Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla confirmed that Maccabi supporters on Wednesday had torn down a Palestinian flag from a building in the city center and set fire to it as well as attacked a taxi, and authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium. Online video also showed Maccabi fans chanting racist anti-Arab slurs and anti-Palestinian slogans ahead of the match.
Asked about that video footage during a Friday news conference, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said: “What happened last night has nothing to do with protest. There is no excuse for what happened,” referring to the violence after Thursday’s game.
The Netherlands is “horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said, with Halsema calling the mobs “antisemitic hit-and-run squads.” Beginning Friday, Amsterdam banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations for three days and gave police temporary emergency stop-and-search powers.
Israel’s National Security Council urged its citizens in Amsterdam on Friday to remain in their hotel rooms and avoid showing Israeli or Jewish symbols. Newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced that he would make an “unplanned visit” to the Netherlands soon to discuss the attacks, which he called a “blaring alarm call for Europe and the world.” The Israeli government initially ordered two planes to be sent to Amsterdam to bring the targeted fans back to Israel, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights. Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia announced five flights to Amsterdam.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Last year, Dutch police arrested more than 150 AZ Alkmaar soccer club supporters who were chanting antisemitic slogans on their way to a match against Ajax. Angry pro-Palestinian protests erupted in March when Israeli President Isaac Herzog opened a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam. And this week’s assault on Maccabi fans came on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the deadly Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany in 1938.
According to the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, antisemitic attacks in the Netherlands increased eightfold in the month following Hamas’s attack. Community leaders have blamed local security for not doing enough to halt the violence. “The police have stood idly by and watched these pogrom-like conditions,” said Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis.
In turn, the overnight attacks have given some Dutch lawmakers ammunition to bolster their own Islamophobic rhetoric. Far-right politician Geert Wilders, the head of the country’s largest party, accused “criminal Muslims” of being behind the soccer incident, saying they should be deported.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
The key issues at COP29. This year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP29, kicks off in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday at a time when the world is reeling from a deluge of environmental crises. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world has faced so many floods and landslides this year that it caused the aid sector’s first multi-disaster insurance payout. So far, the money has assisted around 1.5 million disaster victims in some of the world’s poorest countries.
But a new report that global temperatures have exceeded the 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark needed to combat climate change and a leaked film of COP29 chief Elnur Soltanov pledging to facilitate fossil fuel deals next week have some experts worried about the summit’s effectiveness. Similar scandals have plagued previous climate conferences, such as when the United Arab Emirates used its hosting duties at last year’s summit to promote deals for its national oil and gas companies.
Stimulus package. China approved a $1.4 trillion plan on Friday to revive the nation’s economy. Under the policy, local governments will be able to refinance their highest-interest debts to free up cash, and Beijing will be allowed to engage in additional borrowing. The move is the latest in a series of measures that began in September to stimulate growth after COVID-19 and the collapse of China’s real estate market rattled the nation’s consumers.
Beijing’s efforts to boost its economy face a new deadline now that Donald Trump has won the U.S. presidential election. Trump has vowed to issue tougher tariffs (as high as 60 percent) on Chinese goods once he takes office in January 2025. Expected to lead Washington’s efforts is Robert Lighthizer, according to the Financial Times, the same individual who helped launch the U.S. trade war with China during Trump’s first term and has since pushed a hawkish agenda toward Beijing.
Anti-Frelimo protests. Violent clashes between police and protesters in Mozambique have killed at least three people and injured around 66 others, the country’s largest hospital said on Friday. This brings the total number of people killed since the disputed Oct. 9 election to more than 21, with some rights groups putting the tally even higher. Military chief Gen. Omar Saranga announced late Thursday that the country’s army will support local police units to help quell the unrest.
Thursday marked the largest anti-government demonstrations against the ruling Frelimo party, after party leader Daniel Chapo declared himself the winner of the country’s presidential election despite vote monitors and opposition parties citing electoral irregularities, such as ballot-stuffing and polling stations filled with loyal Frelimo officials. Frelimo has been in power since Mozambique established its independence in 1975.
What in the World?
Interpol’s 92nd General Assembly began in which city on Monday?
A. Glasgow, Scotland
B. Doha, Qatar
C. Bali, Indonesia
D. Reykjavik, Iceland
Odds and Ends
In another bid to boost low birth rates, Hong Kong is considering making its government employees display baby photos in their offices to foster an “atmosphere” that promotes having children. Lawmaker Bill Tang suggested the practice during a subcommittee session on Monday, saying “babies are cute” and look like “mini” versions of their parents. Labour and Welfare Undersecretary Jonathan Ho Kai-ming seemed taken by the baby fever and agreed to discuss the matter with the Civil Service Bureau.
And the Answer Is…
A. Glasgow, Scotland
Among the international policing organization’s top priorities is a spike in organized crime, outgoing Interpol Secretary-General Jürgen Stock told FP’s Amy Mackinnon in an exclusive interview.
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