Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said she regrets describing the violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in her city as a pogrom, adding that the term was used as a way to discriminate against the local Moroccan-Muslim community.
Halsema, in an interview on Dutch television on Sunday, said Israel and Dutch national politics “hijacked” the term pogrom, in an effort to discriminate against the Moroccan-Muslim population in her city. “That is not what I meant or wanted,” she said.
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Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema says she misspoke when she called the violence a pogrom
(Photo: Piroschka Van De WouwReuters)
“Boys on scooters crisscrossed the city looking for Israeli football fans. It was a hit-and-run. I understand very well that this brings back the memory of pogroms,” Halsema said in the press conference the day after the violence.
During the interview the mayor said the Israeli government speaks of pogroms on the streets of Amsterdam in a political way to incriminate the Moroccan-Muslims in Amsterdam. Moroccans are the second-largest ethnic group in Amsterdam.
She said she regretted her initial response to the incident out of international and local pressure. "The pressure was so great that we spoke before we had data about the conduct of the Israelis," she also said.
Following the violent attacks, Halsma banned demonstrations in the city for three days, to return calm but protesters came out and clashed with police regardless of the ban.
Israelis attacked in Amsterdam
Amsterdam police said on Sunday that they have the names of 45 people suspected linked to "the most extreme acts of violence" that occurred after the Maccabi Tel Aviv – Ajax match. Nine are in custody and two turned themselves in after their photos were posted.
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