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Group of House members condemns Amsterdam pogrom as ‘night of horror’

“We urge Dutch authorities to arrest all those who participated in these heinous acts of antisemitic violence,” the 14 legislators said in a statement.

U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
A view of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90.

A group of Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives called for action against those who had participated in a coordinated attack last week against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam.

“What should have been a normal evening of fans enjoying a soccer game quickly turned into a night of horror as Israeli and Jewish fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team were ambushed by a violent, antisemitic mob,” the legislators stated on Nov. 8 about the assault that took place in the capital of Holland the evening before.

They described how “dozens of Jews and Israelis were severely injured after antisemitic mobs hunted them down, beat them, attacked them with knives, ran them over with cars, and even threw them into the river. Let’s be clear, these people were targeted because they are Jewish.”

Signatories of the statement included Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

“We urge Dutch authorities to arrest all those who participated in these heinous acts of antisemitic violence and act swiftly to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” the representatives wrote. “As Jewish members of Congress, we will never abandon the fight to end antisemitism. We will continue to monitor the situation until the investigation is complete, each Israeli safely returns home, and those responsible are fully brought to justice.”

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