Amsterdam police arrested 154 soccer fans on Saturday for singing anti-Semitic chants while on a train heading to a match.
According to Dutch police, the group were told to stop but refused, and were then arrested on charges of insulting a group of people because of their race or religion. Law enforcement said that 11 of the fans were held on suspicion of destroying windows and violence towards officers.
“Violence, insults, and other criminal acts aren’t accepted,” Amsterdam police said in a statement.
Those arrested were fans of AZ Alkmaar, a team northwest of Amsterdam, who were going to see their match against Ajax, a team formed in the Jewish area of the capital. The chants largely targeted Ajax for its historic roots.
AZ Alkmaar denounced the chants, writing online that "the club strongly condemns inflammatory behavior and discrimination and emphatically distances itself from those who made themselves guilty of it."
\u201cOfficieel statement AZ: AZ verwerpt en veroordeelt de spreekkoren die zijn geuit door een deel van de aanhang gister in Amsterdam. De club\u00a0keurt opruiend gedrag en discriminatie ten strengste af en neemt nadrukkelijk afstand van degenen die zich hieraan schuldig hebben gemaakt.\u201d— AZ Alkmaar Fans (@AZ Alkmaar Fans) 1683457827
Anti-Semitism is reportedly an ongoing problem in Dutch soccer, as this is not the first time the team has been targeted. Ajax does not currently have any Jewish players, but Israeli flags are often flown at matches, and the Star of David has long been associated with the club.
Naomi Mestrum, the director of the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, told The New York Times that anti-Semitism among fans has been "a stubborn problem," which has been growing as of recent.
“People’s awareness continues to decline,” she said. “I’m especially worried about a lack of historical awareness and the seriousness of anti-Semitism.”
In 2021, the CIDI documented a 36 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the country -- excluding online harassment -- from the previous year. In the United States, the Anti-Defamation League reported that 2022 saw the highest amount of anti-Semitic hate crimes since they began tracking them in 1979.
