Clear Bias: How Did Western Media Handle the Clashes in Amsterdam?

Western bias towards the Israeli occupation was not limited to the statements of Western politicians after the events in Amsterdam. The coverage by many major Western media outlets of the incidents following provocations by fans of an Israeli football team displayed a clear bias towards the Israeli narrative, amidst a near-total absence of the other side’s perspective.

While many Western newspapers featured headlines with statements from Western officials biased towards the Israeli fans, others devoted significant space to Israeli spokespersons to present their “testimonies” about what happened in the Dutch capital.

Arabi21 noted in its review of Western coverage of the events in Amsterdam that many newspapers used harshly connotative phrases when describing what the fans of “Maccabi Tel Aviv” endured, while choosing general and brief terms when discussing the Israeli provocations.

In the British newspaper “The Telegraph,” an article about the Amsterdam events was headlined with a statement from the Dutch King Willem-Alexander saying, “We failed the Jews during the football attacks as we did in the Nazi era,” despite the article only briefly mentioning the King’s statement.

The British newspaper discussed the “assaults” Israelis faced during the incidents in Amsterdam without addressing the narrative of Palestine supporters, who were provoked by scenes of the Palestinian flag being taken down and chants hostile to Arabs, including profanities.

In this context, the newspaper used phrases such as “Israeli football fans ambushed, kicked, and beaten in the streets of Amsterdam” and “some fans (Israelis) had to jump into canals or hide in hotels to escape.”

Regarding the other side, provoked by Israeli actions, the British newspaper reported, “Protesters, some carrying knives and traveling on motorcycles, chanted slogans like ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘now you know how it feels’.”

Meanwhile, CNN titled an extensive article on the Amsterdam events as “Amsterdam bans protests for three days following violent attacks on Israeli football fans.”

The article presented statements from Dutch officials biased towards the Israeli side and merely mentioned that the events erupted after tensions following “the spread of multiple social media videos showing Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab phrases, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza, and cursing Arabs.”

Regarding the circulated clips of moments when the Palestinian flag was taken by Israeli fans, the network reported, “Videos show men tearing Palestinian flags,” adding, “it is unclear when these clips were filmed.”

“The Times” headlined its coverage of the events in Amsterdam as “Israeli football fans flee to save their lives in Amsterdam attacks.”

“Politico” wrote, “Israeli football fans attacked in Amsterdam,” while “France 24” titled an extensive article “Attack on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam, leading to five being hospitalized.”

“France 24” chose headlines within the article quoting Dutch officials such as “shocking images” and “darkest hours of history.”

Discussing the scenes showing Israeli team fans chanting “end the Arabs,” the site noted that the circulated scenes were “unconfirmed.”

In a similar vein, “The Guardian” provided an extensive report on the events detailing the narrative of three people about what the Israeli fans experienced, compared to a single brief narrative from the other side represented by a Palestinian supporting girl who said she did not witness the events but “found the behavior of the Israeli fans threatening” as they walked through the city before the match.

The academic specialized in the fields of misinformation, propaganda, and digital authoritarianism on social media, Mark Owen Jones, pointed to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) bias towards the Israeli team fans with significantly less attention to the provocations that ignited the clashes.

Jones said in a series of tweets on “X” (formerly Twitter), “If you analyze the live coverage provided by the BBC of what happened in Amsterdam, you will see the disproportionate attention given to Maccabi and the Israelis as victims, with much less focus on the actions of Maccabi fans.”

He added, “Regarding references to Arab or Dutch fans or other Ajax fans, there is very little focus on the safety of Arabs, with the majority of the coverage focusing on Maccabi fans as victims.”

Jones highlighted the language used in the BBC’s coverage to describe the attacks on Maccabi fans as “stronger” and “ranging from rioting to brutal and horrifying,” whereas “similar terms are not used for anti-Arab racism.”

Jones emphasized that the BBC’s live coverage of the events in Amsterdam clearly portrayed it in a way that emphasizes the suffering of the Israelis through the way it obtained and placed the article.

The academic specializing in the fields of misinformation, propaganda, and authoritarianism, commented, “It amazes me that anti-Arab hatred and antisemitism are not treated equally.”