Police investigating what led to violence involving Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam

Dutch authorities are investigating what led to a wave of attacks last night on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam. It followed days of tension leading up to the game. Stephanie Sy reports.
Amna Nawaz:
The day’s other headlines start in the Netherlands.
Dutch authorities are investigating what led to a wave of attacks last night on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam. It followed days of tensions leading up to the game.
Stephanie Sy has our report.
Stephanie Sy:
The game between Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch Ajax team ended in a tie. What happened after, outside the lines, was a clear loss.
Hundreds of riot police deployed across the city after chaos and violence erupted, this a scene showing a mob running with clubs, and this an eyewitness video capturing Israeli fans running in fear.
One says “I’m not Jewish” as he was repeatedly punched and kicked to the ground. Israel’s embassy in Washington posted this footage showing a cornered Israeli fan. More than 60 people were arrested and five victims were hospitalized and released.
But tensions had been mounting for days, and the aggression was not one-sided. Video from the night before the game shows Israeli soccer fans cheering as someone tears down a Palestinian flag.
And police chief Peter Holla told reporters that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had attacked a taxi driver and burned a Palestinian flag the day before the game. Israeli fans were also captured chanting “Eff the Arabs” as they descended an escalator ahead of the match.
In violence following the game, the mayor of Amsterdam said the assailants actively sought out Israeli fans. It’s unclear whether the attacks were preplanned.
Femke Halsema, Mayor of Amsterdam, Netherlands (through interpreter): Boys on scooters crossed the city in search of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. It was a hit-and-run.
Stephanie Sy:
Fans who witnessed the violence described what they saw as they returned to Israel today.
Kobi Eliyahu, Maccabi Tel Aviv Fan:
It was very frightening. I saw people get beaten. I saw people get inside hotels and lock themselves. I saw people threw — they throw people into the water, the freezing water. And they drove on people. They stab people.
Stephanie Sy:
Dutch and Israeli officials decried the attacks as antisemitic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared it to an attack on Jews in 1938 Berlin that preceded the Holocaust.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter):
Tomorrow, 86 years ago was Kristallnacht, an attack on Jews just for being Jews on European soil. It’s back now. Yesterday, we saw it on the streets of Amsterdam.
Stephanie Sy:
Following the mayhem, Amsterdam has banned demonstrations for three days and granted police emergency power to stop and search suspects.
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Stephanie Sy.