Amsterdam attacks on Jews were premeditated, coordinated on social media, says watchdog group

Antisemitism watchdog says social media played a key role in orchestrating mob violence against Jews in Amsterdam, laments ‘gap’ in platforms’ efforts to moderate violent content.

By World Israel News Staff

The attacks on Israeli Jews visiting the Netherlands for a soccer match were orchestrated online using social media platforms including Instagram and Telegram, an antisemitism watchdog group has found.

Dozens of people were injured Thursday night when a mob of mostly Muslims attacked Israeli soccer fans outside of the Johan Cruyff Arena, the home stadium of the AFC Ajax soccer club, in Amsterdam following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Members of the anti-Israel mob assaulted dozens of Israeli soccer fans, who had flown to Amsterdam for the match, with reports of Israelis being bludgeoned, attempted stabbings and kidnappings, attempts to run down Israelis with cars, and several instances of people being thrown into a river.

Cyberwell, a nonprofit organization monitoring antisemitism and Holocaust denial online, said that the attacks appear to have been orchestrated and coordinated ahead of time via social media.

“This series of coordinated attacks is the rawest example of the slogan ‘Globalization of the Intifada,’ which was amplified in the Instagram stories of some of the organizing accounts. Use of Hamas symbolism included the use of the inverted red triangle, now part of Hamas’s logo, which CyberWell has been calling for platforms to better monitor and moderate for months,” CyberWell Founder and Executive Director Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor said Friday.

“While initial evidence and reports suggests that a combination of chat platforms like Telegram, Instagram and other social media accounts were used to target central areas of foot traffic and hotels that would be frequented by Israelis after the game, several groups, including one linked to Hamas, freely organized protests against the presence of Israeli soccer fans on Instagram and used incendiary Hamas propaganda symbols to escalate tensions, call for violence and even celebrate the targeted attacks.”

According to CyberWell, symbol of an inverted red triangle, used since October 7th 2023 by supporters of the Hamas terror organization, was posted over 1,000 on social media in conjunction with the word “Amsterdam” during a 24-hour period, reaching over 8,000,000 users.

“The inverted red triangle is a Hamas propaganda symbol to identify Israeli and Jewish targets for execution and attack, that has recently been incorporated into Hamas’ official logo, and is being widely used across social media, including X, to call for additional violence, including while organizing this attack today, online,” Cohen Montemayor said.

Cyberwell’s analysis joins a growing body of evidence, including forensic materials and testimony collected by local police, that Thursday night’s attacks were premeditated, and were not, as initially claimed by some, a spontaneous brawl sparked by verbal exchanges between Israeli fans and members of the mob.