A 33-year-old Londoner has shared the harrowing details of how he was attacked and hospitalised after attempting to stop a gang assault on an Israeli man in Amsterdam on Thursday evening.
The incident followed a Europa League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and AFC Ajax. The attack, which occurred after the game, saw Maccabi fans targeted by a group of thugs shouting pro-Palestinian slogans.
The father-of-two from Hendon recounted the terrifying events in an interview with the Jewish News. "We left the game early to meet a friend, and as we walked towards the bar area, chaos broke out—mopeds appeared from alleyways, and a crowd surrounded an Israeli man," he said. "The man was on the ground, his head pinned between a curb and a metal gate, being viciously kicked."
Aaron and his friend Jacob, a father-of-three from Golders Green, intervened in an attempt to help the victim, pushing the attackers away.
However, their efforts were met with further violence. "We thought it was over," Aaron recalled, "but moments later, the gang returned and confronted us, asking, ‘Are you Yehudi? Are you Jewish?’”
Jacob, who was also caught up in the attack, recalled the thugs demanding to see their passports. Despite their denials of being Israeli, the gang continued to harass them and the situation quickly escalated. "I told him to leave him alone and the next thing I know, he punched me in the face," Aaron said. "It was so unexpected. My glasses were broken, my nose split. Blood everywhere."
The violence did not end there. After Aaron was punched, about 20 more attackers emerged from hiding and began to assault him. "I stood my ground. I said, ‘What you’re doing is why you’re not getting any support,’" he said. One member of the gang, upon realising that Aaron was British, instructed the others to leave him alone. However, another responded, "Yes, but he helped a Jew."
"It was because I helped a Jew," Aaron explained. "That’s why they were angry."
The police arrived around 45 minutes after the attack, though Aaron noted that before the match there had been a heavy police presence. "Before the game, they were taking it seriously," he said. "But after the game, I think they were scared."
Aaron observed that the attackers were specifically targeting Jews, not just Israelis. "They knew what they were doing. It wasn’t a random ‘Let’s get an Israeli.’ It was organised. It was ‘We want Jews. We want Jewish blood.’"
Aaron, who received emergency stitches at a local hospital, told Jewish News: "I am glad I stepped in to help that man. I was glad they didn’t get me any further. I felt very bad for the Israelis." He also mentioned that after the attack, one of the assailants approached him to apologise, saying, "sorry we thought you were a Zionist."
Jacob, who was with Aaron during the assault, described the situation as dangerous, with gangs "looking for blood." He stressed that it was "completely ridiculous" to suggest that the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had provoked the attack.
"This is a wake-up call," he said. "It can happen here in the UK too. They wanted to kill that guy I helped. They were just stamping on his head. I think he went to the police. I just picked him up and shouted, ‘Leave him alone,’ and they ran off."
The Community Security Trust (CST) condemned the violence, expressing "disgust" at the attack on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and offering support to the Dutch Jewish community.
In response to the incident, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis issued a statement, calling the scenes from Amsterdam "utterly devastating." He continued: "Hateful mobs have chased down Jewish and Israeli football fans on the streets of Amsterdam after a match, violently beating them and proudly posting the footage on social media. Many are injured and three people are currently missing."
Rabbi Mirvis also warned that this attack should serve as a "watershed moment" for Europe and the world, urging them to recognise the growing threat of anti-Jewish hatred. "Sadly, I fear it will not be and that tragically, this will not be the last such attack, God forbid."
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