Amsterdam Mayor Blames 'Toxic Cocktail' for Violence

A tram was burned and police officers were pelted with stones Monday night in the latest unrest in Amsterdam. CNN reports that videos show that people shouted antisemitic slurs as the tram was set alight, though it's not clear whether the incident was connected to the Thursday attacks on supporters of Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

• More arrests. Police said Monday five more people "suspected of public acts of violence against persons Thursday night" had been arrested, NBC News reports. The Amsterdam city government said 62 people arrested earlier, mostly for minor offenses, included 10 residents of Israel, reports the New York Times. Four people, all residents of the Netherlands, are still in custody on more serious charges, authorities said.

• A "toxic cocktail." "What happened over the past few days was a toxic cocktail of antisemitism, football hooliganism, and anger over the war in Palestine and Israel and other parts of the Middle East," Amsterdam Mayor Fenke Halsema said in a report presented to an emergency city council meeting Tuesday, per the Guardian. She said that that while a "more complete picture of events" had emerged, including aggression from Maccabi supporters, "it in no way negates" that a "hunt for Jews" was called for amid antisemitic attacks.
• How the attacks unfolded. According to the report from the mayor, police, and the city's public prosecutor, tensions began Wednesday night, when "racist and hateful chants" against Arabs were heard from Maccabi supporters gathered in the city for a game against Dutch side Ajax, reports the New York Times. Palestinian flags torn down and a taxi was vandalized by the Israeli fans. Around the same time, there were "online calls that appeared for taxi drivers to mobilize" and police had to escort Maccabi fans out of a casino where many taxi drivers had gathered.

• How the attacks unfolded, II. The report said tensions grew before the game on Thursday, when a large group of Maccabi fans was involved in confrontations in the city's main square. After the soccer game, Maccabi fans were "running around with sticks destroying things," and there were "rioters, moving in small groups, by foot, scooter or car, quickly attacking Maccabi fans before disappearing," the report said, per the AP.
• The "Jew hunt." The mayor said that while "terrible things" were said by fans, the "Jew hunt" and antisemitic attacks took thing a step further. "That means going through the city in an organized fashion, keeping each other informed, asking people their passports, seeing if they meet the criteria the perpetrators think fit Jews, and then beating them up," she said. "That is unacceptable." Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof met with Jewish leaders in the city Tuesday to discuss antisemitism.
• Protests banned. Under emergency measures introduced Friday, protests have been banned in Amsterdam and police numbers have been increased, CNN reports. More than 50 people were arrested at a banned pro-Palestinian demonstration on Sunday.