When violence erupted around a soccer match in Amsterdam this week between fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch club Ajax, Western media outlets rushed to frame it mostly as an antisemitic attack on Israeli fans. But a closer examination of the coverage reveals troubling patterns in how racial violence is reported; not only is anti-Arab violence and racism marginalized and minimized, but violence against Israelis is amplified and reduced to antisemitism.
Consider this paradox: The New York Times ran the headline, “Israeli soccer fans injured in attacks linked to antisemitism in Amsterdam,” but the body article contained only verified evidence of anti-Arab racism. Its lede emphasized antisemitic motivation, while the body of the article cited footage by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans chanting anti-Arab and racist slogans – footage that the New York Times had actually verified. The only basis at the time for claiming antisemitism came from a single tweet by the Dutch prime minister, while the linked Amsterdam police’s own statement made no such attribution (subsequent police statements did condemn “antisemitic behavior”). ….more
