ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In Amsterdam last night, Israeli soccer fans were attacked after a match between the Israeli and Dutch teams. The mayor of Amsterdam has suspended demonstrations for three days, and the Israeli Airline EL AL sent special flights to bring people home. Teri Schultz is covering the story from Amsterdam. And tell us what the mayor said when she spoke with the press today.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: Hi, Ari. Well, Mayor Femke Halsema was very shaken by what happened in her city, in part because, she explained, she'd taken so many precautions against exactly this type of scenario. There were some 800 police deployed protectively in the streets, and authorities had carried out preventative searches in areas that were considered at risk of violence. And still, after the game, as you mentioned, Israeli fans were targeted and beaten up, some forced to make pro-Palestinian statements to stop the attacks. Halsema went so far as to say Amsterdam should be ashamed. Here's how she put it.
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FEMKE HALSEMA: We pride ourselves that we are a peaceful city and a tolerant city. And last night, we were very much ashamed because tolerance and peace were not there.
SHAPIRO: Teri, you said the mayor was concerned that something like this might happen. So tell us more about what was happening in Amsterdam leading up to the match.
SCHULTZ: Well, media reports say that tensions were rising already Wednesday - that's the day before the match - when Israeli soccer fans tore down a Palestinian flag. And Dutch authorities did confirm today there is video of Israeli supporters chanting anti-Arab statements, which appear to celebrate the destruction in Gaza, outside the soccer match. But the mayor was unequivocal in saying there's no excuse for the targeted attacks.
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HALSEMA: What happened last night is not a protest. It has nothing to do with protest or demonstration. It was crime.
SCHULTZ: And dozens of suspects were arrested. While most of them have now been released, Dutch authorities say they continue to search for perpetrators and will prosecute them. In fact, Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof, who said he was horrified by the attacks, called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make that pledge personally.
SHAPIRO: What is the feeling in the streets now that the mayor has banned demonstrations for three days and increased security around the city?
SCHULTZ: Well, I'm on the streets right now, and it's pretty quiet. You don't really feel a heavy police presence, even knowing that security's been upgraded. I talked to some people here who were disappointed about the violence. Nineteen-year-old student Jula De Booyj lives downtown and doesn't accept the mayor's explanation that all possible security measures had been taken. De Booyj told me tensions are simply too high. She says more should have been done to keep what she called the hooligans away from the match, or perhaps, she says, it should have been called off.
JULA DE BOOYJ: I feel like it's been expected for this to happen - you know what I mean? - especially in Amsterdam. There's flags everywhere of Palestine, and I think this is something that could have been, like, expected from the start and also predicted.
SCHULTZ: But British tourist Nick Malmholt put the blame squarely on the attackers.
NICK MALMHOLT: They can sort of, like, look for cause and effect in conflict, but it feels like a pogrom is a pogrom is a pogrom. That's what it felt like. Just - you know, and we just have to be real about that.
SCHULTZ: Condemnation of the incident has come in from around the world, so the Dutch government and Amsterdam authorities are taking it seriously, along with expressing their own deep regret that it happened.
SHAPIRO: That is Teri Schultz reporting from Amsterdam. Thank you very much.
SCHULTZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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