Just as there were Righteous Among the Nations — Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the horrific Nazi Holocaust of World War II — so too did a non-Jew step up to help his fellow Israelis as they were being attacked in what amounted to a pogrom in Amsterdam.
Melhem Asad, a member of Israel’s Druze community and a longtime fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv, was at the team’s game in Amsterdam on Thursday night, where Israeli Jews who had come to support the team were attacked by pro-terror radical Islamists screaming support for Hamas.
The Israeli fans were beaten, targeted with vehicles in ramming attacks and chased with knives following a Europa League soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Amsterdam’s Ajax team. Some were caught and thrown into the city’s canals.
Asad took an active part in searching for and rescuing Jews who were being targeted for lynching by the terror-supporting Muslim immigrants who have settled in the Netherlands.
The young hero spoke loudly in the Arabic language to a group of Israeli Jewish fans, misleading the terrorists into thinking he was with Arabs and resulting in the group being left alone.
Asad repeated his strategy multiple times over a period of several hours: many Jewish Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were under attack in restaurants and bars and unable to get to their hotels.
You will not hear this story from in violence against Jews in Amsterdam – not on the BBC, not on Al Jazeera, not in any media –
Melhem Asad, a longtime fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv who was at the game in Amsterdam, took an active part in searching for and rescuing Jews from the… pic.twitter.com/ClWhw0uWbl— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 8, 2024
A number of local Israelis and other Jews living in Amsterdam, including members of the Chabad community, also helped rescue the fans under attack in the Dutch capital.
“The night before the game there were skirmishes between Israeli fans and local Arabs. So when we started to hear news about the confrontation after the game, we first did not realize the scope of what was happening,” Rabbi Dovi Pinkovitch, head of the Chabad House in the center of Amsterdam, told TPS-IL.
The Chabad rabbi helped mobilize the locals in assisting the besieged Israelis, getting them safely to hotels.
“There were cases when local taxis took the Israelis towards the center of the clashes instead of bringing them to safety, so we understood we needed to help,” Pinkovitch said.
“The volunteers, in their private cars, worked all night long to get hundreds of Israelis to the hotels,” he noted.
The rabbi noted that among the volunteers was a Jew from Germany who drove three hours to get to Amsterdam to take part in the rescue mission. Another volunteer was a Jew from Holland who drove more than two hours to get to Amsterdam.
On Friday, the same team of local volunteers helped take the Israelis to the airport for flights to Israel. Some Israelis escaped to other European countries, where they then flew to Israel. Others remained in hotels in Amsterdam.
Israeli rabbis permitted El Al, the nation’s carrier, to fly on Shabbat to rescue Israelis who remained in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, just 10 attackers remain in custody of the 62 suspects detained by local authorities following the attack, according to Chief Prosecutor Rene de Beukelaer, who was quoted in a report Saturday by ANP. Eight of those in custody are adults, and two are minors, he said.
“The investigation that we started during the night focuses on suspects who can be seen on the film footage,” De Beukelaer explained. “We are also investigating whether there are connections between these suspects and how they came to these violent actions. We are also investigating whether it was organized.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told reporters following the attack that it was “scandalous” and “reprehensible” and said “everything should be done to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.”
BREAKING:
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof gives his first comments on the Amsterdam Pogrom.
He says what happened is"scandalous" and "reprehensible"
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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 8, 2024
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana personally flew to Netherlands to supervise the Israeli response to the riots, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to manage the Foreign Ministry command center dealing with the situation.
Sa’ar met with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his residence as he concluded his visit.
In their meeting, Schoof described the recent attacks on Israelis in Amsterdam as a “turning point”, and expressed his commitment to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
The two agreed on the importance and urgency of combatting the rising antisemitism, and spoke about ways to advance cooperation on the issue, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday night.
Schoof noted that he has cancelled his participation in the COP Summit in Baku in order to remain in the Netherlands due to the serious incidents in Amsterdam, adding that discussions on the matter are scheduled to take place in the coming week in the Dutch parliament and in other forums.
During their meeting, Sa’ar warned that the brutal attacks on Jews and Israelis, and the demand by their attackers they present passports to prove their identity, were reminiscent of dark periods in history.
The Israeli foreign minister stressed that Israel could not accept the persecution of Jews and Israelis on European soil, emphasizing that this “new antisemitism” is focused on the denial of the Jewish State’s right to exist and on denying its right to self-defense.
“This antisemitism is manifested in the political assault on Israel in United Nations institutions and international legal forums. The goals are identical: the delegitimization of Israel and undermining its right to self-defense. This is not done against any other democracy,” Sa’ar pointed out.
In a post on the X social media platform, Sa’ar praised a decision by the Berlin Regional Court to outlaw the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and to punish those who say it.
I welcome the decision of the Berlin Regional Court to outlaw the phrase ״from the river to the sea- Palestine will be free״ and to enforce punishment against those who say it.The new anti-Semitism that is based on the denial of the Jewish state's right to exist must be uprooted!
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) November 9, 2024
Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders likewise condemned the attack, meeting with Ohana and Sa’ar as well.
“I just spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi
Netanyahu and told him of my anger and shame of what happened in Amsterdam,” Wilders wrote in a post on X.
“There is no place for antisemitism and jew hate in The Netherlands and I will do all I can to protect Jews and stop and expel Islamic radicals.”
There are about 20,000 Dutch Jews living in Amsterdam, and at least as many Israelis.
