#pgnl

Darling you're shining

by Debbie Weiss

The violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week was a premeditated and coordinated attack orchestrated with extremist networks linked to a former employee of the controversial United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), a group tracking online disinformation told The Algemeiner on Monday.

The Network Contagion Research Institute’s analysis of open-source intelligence and social media also “revealed that protests around the Maccabi Tel Aviv game in Amsterdam was not isolated but part of a broader, coordinated effort,” said the group’s co-founder, Joel Finkelstein.

Amsterdam resident Ayman Nejmeh, who identified himself on social media as a former UNRWA employee, “has emerged as a key organizer, coordinating protest actions against Jewish targets,” Finkelstein added.

Hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans, who were visiting the Dutch capital for a game against the local Ajax team, were attacked by Arab and Muslim mobs on Thursday night, landing several in the hospital. It marked the largest mass-scale antisemitic incident in the Netherlands since the Holocaust, with attackers throwing firecrackers and stun grenades, calling for a “Jew hunt,” and forcing Israelis to say “Free Palestine” before beating them up.

Earlier, Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were recorded chanting anti-Arab slogans and removing a Palestinian flag, prompting some news outlets to frame the ensuing violence as a response. But Israel had issued a warning to Dutch security services ahead of the game that violence was likely to unfold after Islamic groups appeared to be coordinating a multifront attack on social media.

According to Finkelstein, the phone number of the Syrian-born Nejmeh was listed as an admin for one WhatsApp group utilized by the Palestinian diaspora group, PGNL. Nejmeh took over the group from Palestinian-Dutch national Amin Abou Rashed, who was arrested last year on suspicion of funneling funds to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

PGNL had in the past hosted the late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran earlier this year, in an online event. The group, whose name in Dutch stands for the “Palestinian Community in the Netherlands,” was also involved in organizing an anti-Israel protest in Dam Square on Sunday, defying a temporary ban imposed after Thursday night’s violence and resulting in dozens of arrests.