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Antisemitism in Europe and the need for Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people

By Ben Pask

Nov 8, 2024 | Football

On Thursday night, Maccabi Tel Aviv played an away Europa League fixture against Ajax FC in the Dutch capital. Going into the clash Maccabi without any points, while the more fancied opponents have started the European season nicely with 7 points from three games. Given that Maccabi was coming off a 3-game losing streak – including a 1-2 loss to Real Sociedad in European play and back-to-back losses in the local Winner League, 1-3 to table-leaders Beitar Jerusalem and 0-1 to the mediocre Kiryat Shmona – hopes were not high for even the most-ardent Yellow & Blue fans.

The result of the game was everything that could have been expected and more, Ajax winning 5-0 to move to second in the table (behind Lazio who haven’t dropped a point and with only their goal differential of 12 goals separately them from four other teams on 10 points). Maccabi, on the other hand, is still seeking their first points of the season, sitting only ahead of Dynamo Kyiv in the 36-team competition on goal different (-9 vs -10).

Photo credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv

While this should have been the story out of Amsterdam last night, what followed the game was, while unfortunately not entirely surprising or unexpected, horrible and traumatic for those Maccabi fans – Israelis and Jews – and a shock and painful to Israelis and Jews around the globe, and just another reminder of the prominence of antisemitism in the world today and the importance of having a Jewish state for us to call home.

This week in Israel, we marked Yom HaAliyah, an annual day to acknowledge the significance of immigration to Israel as a base for the country’s existence, development and design as a multicultural society, and marking the day on which the Children of Israel entered the land of Israel on the 10th of the Hebrew month of Nissan. Yom HaAliyah is marked annually on the 6th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, preceding the annual reading of Jews around the world this Shabbat of the Torah portion Lech Lecha, which translates to “Go for yourself”. The name is taken from the first sentence of the portion, in which Hashem says to Abram (the Avraham, the Patriarch of Judaism, as well as of Christianity and Islam), “Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show to you.”

Yom HaAliyah and Lech Lecha have additional significance for me personally, as next week on the 12th of Cheshvan I will celebrate the 10th anniversary of moving to Israel (my personal Aliyah). What can I say? So far, so good – from spending 9 months on Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu learning Hebrew, to requalifying as a lawyer in Israel, to becoming a partner at a top-tier law firm – I’m lucky that I have had a successful Aliyah experience to date.

The most important thing for me in life is my family. Everything is meaningless without my wife and two daughters, and they help to define my success. Beyond that, I find the most important support network that I have in Israel is from the world of sport, and at first and foremost in that world is The Sports Rabbi. I cannot put into words how important Josh Halickman and his family have been to enhancing my experience of living in Israel. Coming from Australia, where sport is such a huge part of the daily culture, my love of the Maccabi sports club in Australia transitioned to a love for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Writing for the Sports Rabbi (which I, like the site, always does from a neutral standpoint, something which I’m proud of) has helped me integrate more into Israeli society.

The events of October 7 last year, and everything that has happened since then, has affected Israelis and Jews around the world in ways which many of us thankfully had not experienced before. A word which has been prominent in Israel during this period is escapism. Merriam-Webster defines escapism as “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” Sport has served as an escape from reality for many Israelis. Watching Maccabi play in the EuroLeague on Thursday nights and making it to game 5 of the quarterfinal series against Panathinaikos last season, as well as going to many games in the local Israeli League (proudly singing Hatikvah, our national anthem, at the beginning of each game after paying our respects in a solemn ceremony for those we have lost and continue to lose in these wars against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran), helped me personally get through the last year.

In Israel, we continually see sports teams posting on social media to honor those who have been killed and continue to be killed, as well as the hostages who continue to be held by terrorist groups in Gaza more than 400 days after being abducted from Israel. I have pride in how clubs have gathered for their fans in different ways.

One of the most significant events that I attended was Hapoel Tel Aviv’s memorial ceremony for fans who fell while defending the State of Israel or were victims of terrorist attacks, including the families of fans who were murdered on October or who are still held hostage – I often think about this event, as well as Ifat Bar Sela’s song, Leolam Lo Titzadi Levad (“You will never walk alone”), which was written for Idan Raz z”l, a Hapoel fan who fell in battle on October 7.

I’ve seen how Israeli basketball teams playing in Europe flew fans who had been directly affected by the war to the “home” games in Europe (when it was permitted from a security perspective to have fans attend these games) to offer some escapism from their reality.

All this sets the background to how Israelis and Jews around the world are responding to the events which occurred after Maccabi’s loss to Ajax in Amsterdam last night.

I have fond memories of visiting Amsterdam in February of 2014 before I moved to Israel. I met up with friends whom I met while on exchange at the University of Florida five years earlier, I visited museums (including both Anne Frank House and the Heineken museum, for very different reasons) and I enjoyed seeing a city which I’d heard so much about. When Maccabi’s schedule for the Europa League was released in August, I considered flying to Amsterdam for the fixture against Ajax. For various reasons it didn’t work out and today I am thankful for this.

I woke up in the middle of the night (children are a blessing) and, as is my bad habit, I looked at my phone. “It’s infuriating what happened to Maccabi football fans – very difficult photos and videos from Amsterdam,” read the first message that I read on WhatsApp at 3am in a group of more than 400 Maccabi basketball fans. I immediately looked to social media to see what was happening.

There were posts about hundreds of [let’s just call them terrorists] were waiting outside of the stadium after the game looking for trouble with the Maccabi fans.

Another fan posted: “I don’t know how my life led me to having a Dutch police car take me and my things from a hotel in order to distance me from an area after [again, let’s just call them terrorists] lynched me. ‘I’m lucky’ that I only got a punch to the face and kick to the stomach, ‘only’ after 7 surgeries. I was born a Jew and I will die a Jew.”

On October 7, there were many comparisons between the Gazan terrorists and the Nazis during the Holocaust. One thing that clearly distinguished them was that while the Nazis tried to hide from the world what they were doing, on October 7 the perpetrators proudly documented their heinous acts of murder, rape and kidnapping and shared videos of what they were doing. Parallels could be drawn with the perpetrators of the attack on Maccabi fans on Thursday night. There are also reports of people being attacked pleading to the attackers, “I’m not Jewish,” to save themselves.

There was an immediate response in Israel to help the fans abroad.

Maccabi itself was in touch with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Ministry Sport and Culture to find assistance to get their fans home as quickly and safely as possible, posting messages with instructions on social media.

IDF International Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani publicly Tweeted in the early hours of the morning that the IDF was preparing to deploy a rescue mission for Israelis being attacked in Amsterdam. (The mission was cancelled following the directive of the political echelon a few hours later.)

El Al, Israel’s national airline, indicated that they were sending planes to Amsterdam to evacuate Israelis to Tel Aviv at no cost, with the first flight departing from Amsterdam at 2pm local time (3pm in Israel and 8am Eastern Time), with additional flights to evacuate Israelis over Shabbat (El Al will generally not fly on Shabbat, except in emergency situations).

The political echelon has also shared messages of outrage for the events and support for the victims – both in Israel and abroad – and the Israeli and Dutch Heads of State are actively following the situation.

“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog Tweeted. “This is a serious incident, a warning sign for any country that wishes to uphold the values of freedom. I give my full support to the cooperation now taking place between the governments, and trust that the authorities in the Netherlands will act immediately and take all necessary measures to protect, locate, and rescue all Israelis and Jews under attack, and to eradicate the violence against Jewish and Israeli citizens by all required means.”

President Herzog also spoke with the King of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

The Royal House of the Netherlands shared its own message on social media: “I have spoken with President Herzog about events in Amsterdam last night. I told him how shocked my wife and I were by the violence against Israeli supporters who are guests in our country. We must not look away from antisemitic behaviour on our streets. History has taught us how intimidation goes from bad to worse, with horrific consequences. Jewish people must feel safe in the Netherlands, everywhere and at all times. We embrace them all and hold them close.”

Achim Lasemel, the Maccabi fans not-for-profit organization, is continuing to provide assistance and information for fans stuck in Amsterdam, as well as publishing updates on a half-hourly basis. As of 1pm in Israel (6am Eastern Time), two fans are missing (and separately the Dutch police are investigating the possibility of fans being taken hostage), all Maccabi fans who had been admitted to hospital with injuries have been released from hospital.

On Friday afternoon, the Ajax Football Club share a message on Twitter that they were “horrified to learn what happened in the centre of Amsterdam last night. We strongly condemn this violence.”

UEFA has indicated that it “condemns the incidents and acts of violence” and “will examine all official reports, gather available evidence, assess them and evaluate any further appropriate course of action in accordance with its relevant regulatory framework.”

The vagueness of the condemnation makes it unclear who UEFA is condemning. Are they referring to the physical attacks against the Israeli and Jewish fans outside the stadium after the game, or are they referring to the reported actions of Maccabi fans prior to the game in tearing down Palestinian flags around Amsterdam?

One has to question whether UEFA will take any action on the former – especially given that it took no action against Paris Saint Germain earlier this week when its fans displayed a provocatory large banner in support of “Free Palestine” prior to their Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night (a game which the home side lost 1-2).

A strong message from UEFA against antisemitism would be welcome and is necessary, especially given that the Israeli National Team is slated to play against France in Paris next week.

Israelis and Jews are strong and resilient. In the context of our history, last night’s pogrom (as it’s being called) in Amsterdam is just another reminder of the need for a strong Jewish State for the Jewish people. It’s a timely reminder for the antisemites – sorry, anti-Zionists – around the world who call for Jews to “go home to Europe”, that we have no home in Europe. As The Sports Rabbi himself writes, “One would think that the year was 1939, but no, it’s 2024.”

We are all praying that all those missing during the attack in Amsterdam are found safe and sound. We are all praying that those injured make a full recovery and that all those subject to the attack return home safely.

I walked through the streets of my home neighborhood today wearing a Maccabi football top. (I thought to myself how ironic it is, given that the origins of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s infamous yellow uniform is intrinsically connected to the Holocaust: in 1942, Maccabi football (soccer) player, the late Yosef Merimovich, suggested that Maccabi’s players take the field in yellow and blue jerseys (instead of blue and white, in which Maccabi had played up until then), to show solidarity with their Jewish brothers and sisters in Europe who were forced by the Nazis to wear the yellow Star of David. This was the moment that started the legacy of HaTzahovim, the “Yellows”, the color with which Maccabi Tel Aviv players and fans – both in football and in basketball – identify on a daily basis.)

“Respect for wearing that top in solidarity with those in Amsterdam,” many people commented – both fans of Maccabi and fans of other teams. This is consistent with the support I’m seeing over social media, that today we are all Maccabi fans. This was not just an attack on Maccabi fans. It was not even just an attack on Israelis. This was an attack on Jewish people, a strong message that we are not welcome in the international community and that we are not welcome to feel safe.

However, like I said, we are a strong and resilient people. As I enter my second decade as an Israeli citizen, I will continue to take strength from everything that Israeli sports has to offer me and my family – to offer us some escapism and to offer us just another chance to feel proud as Israelis and as Jews – and I will continue to support both Maccabi (despite what their form might be) and other Israeli teams in Europe, as well as the national teams. I will continue to enjoy watching sports live in Israel, however I don’t know whether I will be traveling abroad to see any games live in the near future. I hope that we as a global community can overcome the sickening antisemitism that we are seeing around the world. I hope that we as Jews will be able to live free and safely in Israel and I hope that we will be able to travel freely and openly abroad.

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