On Thursday, scenes of Europe’s ugly past seemed to have returned with a full-scale pogrom by pro-Palestinian thugs chasing and beating fans of an Israeli soccer team through the streets of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, ABC’s Good Morning America saw no reason to cover these horrifying acts of violence that resulted in rescue planes being dispatched by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rescue them.
The Israelis were in the Dutch capital to support Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C., a team in the Israeli Premier League facing off against AFC Ajax Amsterdam in UEFA Europa League competition.
NBC’s Today had a different idea by leading each of their two hours with this. Co-host Savannah Guthrie didn’t mince words in the first tease, calling it “a shocking wave of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe” and “ambush” of “Israeli soccer fans,” who were “attacked and beaten in a disturbing night of anti-Semitic violence.”
NBC's 'Today' led both hours with full reports on the anti-Semitic violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in Amsterdam last night.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 8, 2024
A pogrom in modern-day Europe.
ABC's 'Good Morning America'? Silent. pic.twitter.com/OgVbJwYKuZ
Guthrie later set-up the report from Tel Aviv by foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez:
But let’s start with breaking news overseas. Israel now sending at least two rescue planes to Amsterdam to evacuate its citizens after several were injured in violent, anti-Semitic attacks, happened after a soccer match. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators defying a ban on protests near the stadium and clashing with supporters of an Israeli team.
Sanchez painted a dire picture: “Several evacuation aircrafts took off from here in Tel Aviv earlier to bring stranded Israelis home after what the government is calling a widespread, anti-Semitic attack in a major European capital.”
Unfortunately, he seemed to make an attempt at false equivalency by citing the “tension on the streets around the time that the violence erupted,” saying “[s]ome of those Israeli soccer fans chanting ‘death to Arabs.’”
Sanchez went onto denounce the “anti-Semitic violence” with videos and a soundbite from one eyewitness (click “expand”):
SANCHEZ: This morning, Israel says it’s responding to widespread anti-Semitic violence on the streets of Amsterdam. Fans of a Tel Aviv soccer club chased through the canals and alleys of the Dutch capitol by a pro-Palestinian crowd, according to the government. The Israeli embassy in Washington posting this footage, not verified by NBC News. The man surrounded.
ARAB THUG: This is for the children — for the children, mother-[expletive].
ISRAELI: I’ll give you my money. Leave me. Please go.
IDDO GOLD: They started to stab, attack, go into the rivers, throw on us flash bombs. [SCREEN WIPE] We are frightened to go on the streets. We were frightened. You know, it’s pure anti-Semitism.
Sanchez again tried to bothsides this, playing clips of “[s]ome Israeli fans chanting racist, anti-Arab slurs” and said “[o]thers seen ripping down a Palestinian flag.”
Sanchez dropped the act, sharing statements from Israeli officials, the fact that this came so close to the anniversary of Kristallnacht, and apologies from the Dutch king (click “expand”):
But later, Amsterdam police saying attackers actively sought out Israeli supporters and insulted them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying he “views the horrifying incident with the utmost gravity and demands the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters.” Israeli sending several aircraft to evacuate the wounded and dispatching its new foreign minister to Amsterdam. President Biden’s Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism tweeting: “Horrified by the attacks tonight in Amsterdam, which are terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom,” and noting that this weekend is the anniversary of the Kristallnacht, the 1938 attack that marked a turning point in the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. A dark chapter some fear has not been confined to history. Now, this is being taken extremely seriously by the Dutch government. The king of the Netherlands spoke to the President Israel this morning and told him, “we failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II and last night, we failed again.”
Guthrie and Sanchez reracked things for the second hour. Guthrie framed it in the tease as a “rescue mission” by the Israeli government o save their own citizens and later tossed to Sanchez by reiterating what happened was “a shocking wave of anti-Semitic attacks[.]”
Sanchez hit all of his main points from the first hour, including his attempt at equivalency by implying Jews started it with the “death to Arabs” chant.
Meanwhile, it was somewhat surprising to see CBS Mornings be allowed to cover this given their groveling defenses of Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Co-host Gayle King began:
Some alarming scenes unfolding in the Netherlands overnight as Israeli soccer fans were attacked at multiple locations in Amsterdam. At least 62 people have been arrested, and five people hospitalized. As Ramy Inocencio reports, this comes amid anger over the war in Gaza. We have to warn you here, a heads-up, this report contains some pretty graphic images.
Foreign correspondent Remy Inocencio first showed videos from the Amsterdam streets before explaining it was a “night of violence marked by multiple attacks, groups of men beating other men after a football game between a visiting Israeli team and a local club. Called anti-Semitic by Dutch leaders and Israeli officials. Police told fans to hide.”
He too played both sides by citing the “death to Arabs” chant and lamented “[a]nger rose as Israeli supporters in yellow disrespected a moment of silence.”
“[S]ince October 7 of last year and the tens of thousands killed, anti-Semitism has reportedly surged across the continent. This has the added layers of historic hate across religions, cultures, and a war still raging in the Middle East,” he later concluded.
ABC did acknowledge it with a 29-second brief on Good Morning America First Look (formerly known as America This Morning) by co-host Andrew Dymburt, but that overnight show is the proverbial tree falling in a woods with no one around to hear it.
Good Morning America had time for plenty of fluff, including segments on bra fittings and last-minute travel deals for Thanksgiving.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 8, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).
