What is interesting is that the positioning and language of the key groups that James has referenced, Mayor, Chief of Police and Prime Minister has moved over time.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the Prime Minister of the recently elected right wing coalition who came to power on an anti-immigration ticket has maintained and hardened its line that this was anti-semitism, pure and simple.
However, the Mayor and the Chief of Amsterdam Police have softened their position calling it a "toxic cocktail" but apportioning responsibility for the cause and effect more broadly than their initial statements. They have produced an authoritative letter chronicling events before, during and after the violence. It is well worth a read. No group comes out of this well and it also shows the political pressure being brought to bare from Israel and elsewhere.
It's opening paragraph gives an insight into the events:
On 8 November, horrifying images shocked the world after the night that Amsterdam had endured. Four days later, anger, fear, and disbelief still prevail. We have seen footage of Israeli football supporters being pursued, attacked, and brutalized; screenshots of antisemitic messages calling for a ‘hunt on Jews’, and videos filled with hate-fueled, racist chants against ‘Arabs’. From the tearing down and burning of a Palestinian flag to targeted assaults on Jewish and Israeli supporters, numerous antisemitic expressions were made. The local authorities (consisting of the mayor, police chief, and chief public prosecutor) explicitly emphasize that violence by one party is never an excuse for violence by another. These events have targeted our city, and citizens.
https://assets.amsterdam.nl/publish/...rmber_2024.pdf