The far right is fanning the flames of conflict.

By Mira Oklobdzija, Foreign Policy In Focus

maccabi tel aviv fans in the airport

The unrest continued the next day as Maccabi supporters clashed with a group of men in dark clothing, some on scooters. Police Commissioner Peter Holla reported that there were “fights on both sides, hit & run actions.”  At the end of the afternoon, groups of boys with “a North African appearance,” almost all dressed in black, gathered around the stadium. One group said that they came there to stand up to hypocrisy: “Where were the police yesterday when the Maccabi supporters were beating our taxi drivers?”

Before the match, there was a moment of silence for those who died in the recent Spanish floods. The stadium remains nearly silent, except for a small section where Maccabi supporters were seated.

After the match—which Ajax won 5-0—fights broke out as Maccabi supporters walked through the city center. Rioters attacked and abused these supporters. Around midnight, Maccabi supporters were escorted to their hotels, while a few injured were treated in hospitals for minor injuries and released. Some 62 rioters were arrested—with only four of them still in jail this week—and the town started to calm down.

Read More