The lynching in Amsterdam: Zvi Kedar, a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan who was injured after being brutally beaten in a lynching in Amsterdam, relived the moments of horror this morning (Sunday) in a conversation with Akiva Novick and Kalman Liebeskind on the 'Kalman Lieberman' program on Channel 2.
""When we got off the metro after the game, nothing felt problematic. Suddenly, at Dam Square, a woman approached us and told us, 'Come into my bar, it's dangerous for you to hang around here.' We thought she was being unreasonable and wanted to sell us alcohol, but when we entered, we saw a lot of terrified and scared Israelis. She saved us, we were literally on the way to hell," Kedar said.
He added: "The police arrived and dispersed the event, the rioters were not afraid of the police. We asked one of them to accompany us to the hotel and he did not agree and claimed, 'We do not provide transportation services.'".
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He noted that he and his friend were forced to go to the hotel alone and concealed any signs that might identify them as Israelis.
""At a distance of 200 meters from the hotel, someone approached me and asked me where I was from. I answered him, 'Greece,' and he pulled Maccabi's yellow scarf out of my pocket and started confronting me.".
Zvi shouted to his friend to run away to no avail, and other rioters arrived at the scene: "They confronted us with irons, bottles and fists, there were two of us against twenty, we were beaten in the street like dogs. My friend lost consciousness and I was bleeding.".
Zvi dragged his friend to the hotel and when he arrived, he called to order an ambulance - which refused to arrive due to the riots at the scene: "We went on our own using a taxi that the hotel claimed was safe. At the hospital, there was no empathy for us, they were indifferent and didn't ask us what happened.".
""We will continue touring Europe. We don't need to give these guys a prize, but the countries that host us need to give us a more serious response. Unfortunately, we need it more in 2024.".
The two were treated, Zvi's forehead was stitched and his friend received a mild concussion. On Friday, they returned to Israel on an evacuation flight to Israel.
He noted that the difficult event will not prevent him from continuing to come and cheer on his team. "We will continue to travel around Europe, we don't need to give this company a prize, but the countries that host us need to give us a more serious response, unfortunately we need it more in 2024.".
Listen to the full interview:
