I think a lot of that violence was self-inflicted, judging from the context. If a British or American tourist behaved in the same manner, assaulted cab drivers, chased locals around with poles they had vandalized from scaffolding, vandalized property, and burned the flag of the country they were guests in, I bet they'd be met with a mob of angry locals too.

Europeans are getting sick of badly-behaved tourists. It's been plaguing Amsterdam for years, and the locals are getting fed up. Hoards of atrociously-behaved American and British young men haven't helped. Then, the Israeli fans come along given all this.... context... and do what they are filmed doing...

and now we're supposed to have sympathy?

If anything, I sympathize with the efforts of the Amsterdam locals to chase hooligan tourists out of their city.

Being Jewish shouldn't excuse you from the consequences of your actions. If you chant racist crap, act provocatively, start brawls in the street, and antagonize the locals, you might get punched. They did. Cause and effect.

There was a video I saw a while back featuring a very stupid/ignorant American tourist (as many are) wearing a pro-Russia shirt in Ukraine. This was right before the Russian invasion, when tensions were high.

The Ukrainian police stopped him, and very politely, and very patiently explained to him that though it was not 'illegal' per se, it might not be a wise shirt to wear around town given the ... context ... of the escalating tensions with Russia.

Instead of acting like an intelligent and respectful tourist and saying: "Thank you for letting me know, I'll change it.", he did the very American idiot thing of proceeding to argue with, and then fight the Ukrainian police, and got arrested. Then of course he whined and whined about how his 'freedom of speech' and '1st amendment rights' were being violated - as if Ukraine has the same laws as the US...

The point is, he did that to himself, and what plays well in your home country, might not go over well at all in a foreign one.

I think the Maccabi fans are mostly at fault here for behaving poorly in a foreign country, with little regard or consideration for the local culture and then suffering some consequences.

Luckily, there doesn't seem to have been too serious of consequence, or any fatalities. The 5 Israelis sent to the hospital were released soon after and 20-30 more had 'light injuries'.

If anything, it sounds like the Amsterdam locals kept the kid gloves on for the most part. Soccer hooligan brawls can be far far worse.