Police don’t just need to be prepared for Amsterdam-style violence; they need somehow to convince Canadian Jews that they're actually safe
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Reports out of Amsterdam Thursday night were bone-chilling: Gangs of black-clad young men, Arab Muslims by all eyewitness accounts, essentially hunting down and assaulting Jews, 80 years after Anne Frank was discovered in a local attic and condemned to Bergen-Belsen.
At a Friday morning press conference, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described marauding thugs on scooters who “criss-crossed the city looking for football club Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters.” Maccabi fans had travelled to Amsterdam to see Israel’s most-decorated team take on Ajax, the Netherlands’ most-decorated team, in the UEFA Europa League.
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“It’s against everything we’re proud of in Amsterdam,” Halsema said. “I’m very ashamed of the behaviour that was shown last night.”
“Jews must feel safe in the Netherlands, everywhere and at all times,” said King Willem-Alexander. “We put our arms around them and will not let them go.” A lovely thought, but clearly not one that’s very reflective of Dutch reality.
It was a terribly grim landmark day for European Jews, and indeed for Europe in general. The........