Did a former UNRWA teacher help organize the Amsterdam pogrom?

The organized violent antisemitic rampage which took place in Amsterdam Thursday night shocked many in the European continent and beyond. Now, several days later, more and more information regarding the events and the organizers began to flow, with findings pointing to a PGNL, a Hamas-affiliated group active in the Netherlands, as a main organizer of the anti-Israel protests in the country.

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) published an exposé showcasing how, on November 6, local authorities decided to cancel a preplanned protest against the Maccabi Ajax FC football game scheduled for 19:00 on November 7. However, the organizers did not give up and posted an invite to a new protest, which cautioned attendees to arrive in small groups, conceal Keffiyehs and Palestinian flags, and openly specified “This is a direct clash with our enemy (IOF and Mossad). Even if we do not get our desired location, we will not give up”; warning those under 18 not to attend the protest and calling to “prepare ourselves to deal with grave violence.”

NCRI’s exposé highlighted that one of the main planners of these protests is an organization innocently named “The Palestinian Community in the Netherlands” (Palestijnse Gemeenschap In Nederland – PGNL), a group which organizes protests and “actions” across the Netherlands, with active groups on instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

According to a report by the European Leadership Network (ELNET) released last month, PGNL forms part of the Hamas-affiliated network in the Netherlands and Europe, as it was led for years by Amin Abu-Rashid, a designated Hamas official who was arrested by Dutch authorities in mid-2023 following accusations of transferring funds to Hamas. The ELNET report highlights that, in addition to organizing many of the recent pro-Hamas protests in the Netherlands, PGNL has hosted the late former Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in 2007 over a video conference, and hosted an event saluting former Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 2016.

Following Abu-Rashid’s arrest, PGNL is led nowadays by Ayman Nejmeh, who appeared in the NCRI exposé as an administrator at one of PGNL’s instant messaging app groups. Nejmeh is a Syrian-born activist who described himself on his Facebook profile as a former UNRWA teacher, and who spoke at a pro-UNRWA rally in February. However, at some point in the past couple of days, Nejmeh decided to delete his affiliation with UNRWA from his Facebook profile for unknown reasons. In any case, Nejmeh himself has posted pro-Hamas content in the past on his Facebook page as well, including a picture of an al-Qassam militant.

Also according to the ELNET report, another leader at PGNL is Ahmed Skineh, who held close ties to aforementioned Hamas official Amin Abu-Rashid, and who is involved in many pro-Hamas organizations, including those designated by Israel or recognized by European authorities as acting on behalf of Hamas. These include the UK-based Palestinian Return Centre, the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, and the European Palestinian Council for Political Relations, led by US-designated Hamas official Majed al-Zeer.

Eyewitness: a planned attack with intelligence and camouflage

Elad, a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan who was present at the match in Amsterdam and experienced the events firsthand, spoke to The Jerusalem Post safely at his home in central Israel. Elad emphasized in his testimony that the rioters’ modus operandi was similar to or at least inspired by that of Hamas during the October 7th massacre, including the live documentation of humiliation and violence, the in-depth planning, and the violence itself.

“We went through a pogrom and a massacre attempt that had nothing to do with the soccer match. These events were organized well ahead and could have been prevented,” Elad said, reminding that Ajax is one of the sole groups whose majority of fans are on good terms with Israelis and the Jewish people.

“On the eve of the game radical Muslims began to attack Maccabi fans. They beat them at the entrance to the casino in the city and later beat another fan who found himself in a frozen river after being robbed,” Elad added.

“The main violence started after the game, when a group of us got off the train at the central station. There were taxis standing there which refused to pick up Israeli passengers. A few moments later, a first group of terrorists arrived throwing stun grenades and firecrackers at us, some on foot and some on motorcycles and in cars.

“Luckily we decided to march back together as a large group, but there were others who split from us and found themselves facing terrible violence. Every few meters, another squad of terrorists arrived that threw grenades and came to confront us, but immediately ran away to side alleys as if to lure us to go after them into the alleys, where more terrorists were waiting to harm us.

“Even upon arriving at the hotel – after traveling crammed in a makeshift bus for 150 fans, the terrorists continued to throw objects, riot, and attempt to hurt us without intervention from the police. Even after arriving at the hotels – dozens of terrorists were waiting, simply attacking fans as they came into their hotels, sometimes armed with knives and clubs.

“The Dutch police avoided interfering with the terrorists’ attempts to harm us. In the beginning, they came to the march in huge numbers, but at the end of the game, they simply disappeared. I have much more to say, but it is important to clarify: this is not a ‘spontaneous’ or sporadic event, but a planned attack that included gathering intelligence, choosing convenient and easy targets, camouflaged observers in taxis, motorcycles, cars for ramming attacks, stun grenades, clubs, knives, and everything. It has nothing to do with the game or Maccabi, but with the fact that we are Israelis and Jews – antisemitism at its peak.

“And this could and must be prevented – the writing was on the wall and the Israeli security organizations and especially the Dutch failed miserably,” Elad concluded.

Pro-Israel groups: Dutch authorities must put an and to Hamas and UNRWA incitement

“The main Hamas-affiliated individual identified in ELNET’s report for the Netherlands is Amin Abu-Rashid, who is an active Hamas member living in the Netherlands,” commented Dr. Emmanuel Navon, executive director of ELNET-Israel. ”Abu-Rashid has established and led many organizations in the Netherlands, including the PGNL. This method of working for ‘civilian’ causes to advance the Islamist ideology is consistent with the strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is a branch), which emphasizes Da’wah or promoting Islam through social services,” Navon added. It is the method of proselytization in Islam.

Following the pogrom of Thursday night in the streets of Amsterdam, Navon called on the Dutch government to “act swiftly against Hamas-related organizations such as PGNL.”

When reached for comment, a researcher at NCRI noted that “their identification of some of the organizations and individuals that played a role in organizing the Amsterdam attack was exclusively based on open sources and publicly available tools. In fact, the timing, location, and violent intent of the November 7th demonstration were all openly advertised on social media platforms hours and even days before.

“This lapse underscores the importance of open-source intelligence and research techniques in today’s world. Had there existed a tighter nexus between social media threat monitoring and local law enforcement agencies’ readiness posture, the tragic events of last Thursday night could have been prevented or significantly mitigated,” said the researcher.

Marcus Sheff, CEO of IMPACT-se, a research and policy institute that has extensively examined UNRWA’s education program for years and was the sole think tank representative invited by both the UN Undersecretary General Catherine Colonna assigned to investigate UNRWA and by the US Congress to testify and present evidence on UNRWA’s neutrality said:

“The fact that this attempted pogrom was organized by yet another self-described former UNRWA employee, who was funded by European taxpayers is yet another proof if one was needed after the attacks of October 7, that there is something profoundly rotten in UNRWA’s corporate culture.”