UN official blames Israelis for the Amsterdam pogrom

There is ample evidence that Albanese’s characterization of the incident is a distortion and that the pogrom was planned in advance.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese seems to blame Israelis for the Amsterdam pogrom, during which an anti-Israel mob violently attacked Israelis following a Maccabi-Ajax football game.

Albanese, who has consistently criticized Israel, asked the media to “set the record straight” on the attack and made remarks that apparently laid the blame for the attacks at the feet of the victims.

She quoted a post on X that called the pogrom in Amsterdam a “lie.”

The post said, “World leaders all clamored to follow the egregious lie of a pogrom peddled by a regime that’s committing a genocide.”

Albanese replied, with apparent sarcasm, “In the West, Israel and Israelis can never be in the wrong.”

She seemed to subscribe to the false report that the crowd was reacting to anti-Palestinian provocation by Maccabi fans before the riots.

Eyewitness accounts that crowds were waiting for Israelis and Telegram posts organizing a “Jew Hunt” are proof that the attack was planned beforehand and was not in response to a provocation by the Israelis.

Nonetheless, Albanese defended false reports that the Israelis had initiated the violence and compared it to accusations she has made of Israeli settlers on other occasions.

“In Palestine, Israeli officials, soldiers, and settlers commit crimes against, blame, and smear Palestinians; elsewhere, they may provoke, incite, and vandalize and still get a free pass for every act of violence they commit or hide. Still, it is ‘other’ communities into which they come who are blamed, smeared and arrested,” she wrote.

“The Amsterdam Police has set the record straight. The media needs to follow suit,” Albanese demanded.

It is unclear what Albanese meant that the police had “set the record straight,” except it should be noted that many victims and witnesses said that Dutch police participated in the violence by beating Israelis with batons when they were trying to seek protection.

There are many indications that Albanese’s characterization of the incident is a distortion and that the pogrom was planned in advance.

Witnesses told Channel 11 news, “They waited in groups at every corner, and as soon as they recognized Jews – they started chasing them. Others waited near hotels and the casino in larger groups, and there they also attacked fans. Then others drove by with cars and did not stop honking near hotels in which Israelis are staying.”

Amsterdam pogromAntisemitismFrancesca Albanese