War off the Terraces: Football and Violence in Amsterdam

For what is probably the first time in the history of football hooliganism, a head of state is sending special aeroplanes to bring a group of ultras who drew the short straw back home safely. I’m talking about the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv, of course. Over the last couple of days, these poor dears have assaulted taxi drivers, attacked pro-Palestine protests, and threatened Muslims in the streets of Amsterdam. They chanted, “Let the IDF win and fuck the Arabs”, “There’s no schools in Gaza because there’s no children left”, and booed a minute of silence for the Valencia flood victims. Then they got their arses handed to them. The mainstream media now describes this as an “anti-Jewish pogrom”. However, Netanyahu, who is something of an expert when it comes to pogroms, has been quick to assist… A Dutch skinhead mate of mine who is an Ajax supporter attended the match, so I asked him what went down last night.
Matt Crombieboy

What can you tell me about yesterday’s showdown between Amsterdam and Tel Aviv ultras? I’m surprised as I thought Amsterdam ultras were pro-Israel?

It was actually mostly a showdown between Muslim youth and taxi drivers on one side and Maccabi ultras on the other. Some Ajax supporters were on the Maccabi side (still are). But there’s tensions among the Ajax supporters as well. What happened is, over the weekend, someone wearing a keffiyeh was attacked, reportedly by Maccabi supporters. In the last two days, the Maccabi supporters attacked squats that had Palestine flags waving outside, as well as taxi drivers – presumably Turkish, Morrocan or Arabs, as a lot of taxi drivers are. Before the game, they were in the city chanting about killing Arabs. A demonstration was announced next to the stadium by the pro-Palestine camp before the match – they were saying the match should be banned because it normalises Israel. This already led to a lot of online threats against the pro-Palestine movement. Subsequently, the demonstration was banned but then moved by the local council. Maccabi supporters attacked it, and there were tensions in the city centre as well. Also, the Maccabi supporters interrupted a minute of silence for the Valencia flood victims before the game.

Why would they have a problem with Valencia?

Spain recently declared support for the Palestinian state, or recognised the Palestinian state. I saw online that some extreme religious Jewish communities explained the flood as divine intervention, though this is a marginal view.

So, after the game, because of all that went before, mostly Turkish and Moroccan youths attacked Israelis. It does appear that these Arab youths targeted any Israeli, or at least asked randoms for passports, and screenshots have leaked where they were chatting about attacking Jews. Naturally, the media, politicians and Netanyahu have eagerly seized on this to start a moral panic about ‘pogroms’.

Any idea to what extent Ajax ultras were involved in yesterday’s events at all?

There was some footage of Ajax supporters among the Maccabi crowd in the city centre before the game. Since there have been friendships in the past, presumably there was some involvement last night. [A hooligan page has also shared a video of what appears to be a bust-up between Maccabi ultras and Morrocan Ajax fans – Editor]

What’s the story with Ajax ultras being pro-Israel? Is that just roleplay, like with KS Cracovia in Kraków? Cracovia ultras identify as Jews even though they aren’t. They even have a firm called Jude Gang. I don’t think they’re pro-Israel, though.

Pretty much the same. Other clubs saw Amsterdam as a Jewish city, so used it as slur against Ajax, which Ajax then adopted as their identity. Some Ajax supporters have a friendship with Cracovia too. Though Ajax does have a Jewish connection, as Amsterdam’s reputation as a Jewish city was also based in reality.

Cracovia had Jewish founders; that’s all there is to it really. So, you’re saying Ajax ultras are not all pro-Israel? You mentioned tensions.

There was an incident a couple of months ago where a section of the F-Side showed Palestinian flags. And then a fight erupted on the stands with another group. Since then, Israel and Palestine flags have been banned in the stadium by the fanatical supporters association. So it’s a kind of ‘don’t show, don’t tell’ policy.

What association is that?

The supporters association is AFCA SC (Supporters Collective). It comprises individual members, but mostly from the fanatical supporter groups, the main ones being F-Side and Ultras Amsterdam. There’s also the Ajax Supporters Association, which is more for the normal supporters. Actually, now I’m thinking it might have been just F-Side that announced that ban. So, it’s not a formal ban, more a “we’ll beat you up if you bring a flag” type ban, haha.

Either way, the supporters from the old guard, who used to be friendly with Maccabi Tel Aviv, weren’t as openly friendly with them in the stadium yesterday. Or at least it seemed to me that they weren’t. Maccabi Tel Aviv away end also tried to start some classic Ajax chants and nobody really responded to that. There also weren’t any banners proclaiming the friendship, and there definitely have been those kind of banners in the past.

Also, there were some reports that Israel suspected some chaos would ensue and sent along Mossad people, but that’s kinda hard to verify. It does seem to me that they responded very quickly. This all happened last night, and immediately Israel responded and announced special flights in an operation to save Israelis from Amsterdam.

Must be a first in the history of football hooliganism.

Haha yeah, and there’s been much worse violence over the years with much less response. Now it seems the local government is in some trouble over this. Especially since the local government of Amsterdam tends to be more ‘left’ than the national government, and Amsterdam is seen as more progressive than the rest of the country. So, the far right and the current right-wing government love to scapegoat it for cultural degeneracy, mass migration and what have you. There is now an emergency ordinance in Amsterdam and Amstelveen. For the duration of the weekend, the whole city is a ‘zone of risk’, And there’s a ban on demonstrations and more police presence during this weekend.

Apart from your good self, do you still see skinheads at Ajax matches nowadays?

There are some individuals, but in Dutch football culture skinheads are long gone and have been replaced by casual culture, more or less since the 90s. And the scene has always been pretty small. Last year, an old Ajax F-Sider called Kale Gerrit (Bald Gerrit) died, who was featured in a documentary in the 80s about skinhead culture and football supporters called Donkere wolken boven het paradijs Babylon [‘Dark Clouds Above Paradise Babylon’]. It’s on YouTube [see bottom of article]. At one point in the documentary, they change the lyrics of Madness’ ‘Baggy Trousers’ to ‘Stenen gooien naar de ME’ (Throwing bricks, throwing bricks, at the riot police!).

What’s the typical gear worn by Ajax ultras nowadays?

Casual clobber, or what passes for that these days: Stone Island, Adidas trainers, North Face jackets, Fred Perry polos.

So, what’s your overall take on last night’s events?

Well, Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters had been provoking and attacking people for days. In a lot of footage showing these provocations, the police stand to the side and do nothing. Compare this to the police response to many Palestinian actions. The banning of demonstrations, combined with attacks by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters the night before the game, led to a violent confrontation.

As for the very quick and harsh responses from both the Dutch and Israeli governments, this all suggests that the ‘anti-semitic pogrom’ label mainly serves the political agendas of both governments.

OK, thanks for all the info, mate! Have a good weekend and keep me updated.