When Politics Meets Football: Media Distortion and the Manufacturing of Innocence in Amsterdam
Recent events in Amsterdam surrounding a Europa League football match have highlighted the issues of media representation, political discourse, and the framing of conflict narratives in Western spaces.
The incident, which garnered international attention and prompted high-level diplomatic responses, serves as a compelling case study in how contemporary media shapes public understanding of political conflicts, particularly those intersecting with Middle Eastern dynamics in European contexts.
The events began with the arrival of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters for their match against Ajax, but what followed would become a stark illustration of how media narratives can diverge from documented reality. While mainstream media predominantly characterised subsequent clashes as anti-Semitic attacks against Israeli citizens, documentary evidence, including eyewitness accounts and video footage, presents a more nuanced narrative that challenges this simplified interpretation. The chronological sequence reveals crucial context often omitted from initial reports: Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were documented removing Palestinian flags from public spaces the day before the match; videos emerged of supporters chanting inflammatory slogans; and confrontations escalated after the match, resulting in multiple arrests and injuries.
The mainstream media’s portrayal of these events demonstrates several key patterns in contemporary political discourse. Initial reports predominantly focused on violence against Israeli supporters, with limited coverage of preceding events and provocations. Official statements primarily reflected one perspective, while alternative narratives, including local eyewitness accounts, were often marginalised. Social media emerged as a crucial platform for presenting counter-narratives, highlighting the growing importance of alternative information channels in challenging dominant media frames.
The political instrumentalisation of the incident was swift and revealing. High-level responses often reflected geopolitical alignments rather than local realities, and the incident became a focal point for discussing European anti-Semitism, often without necessary nuance. This dynamic highlights the intricate relationship between genuine concerns about anti-Semitism and the potential use of these concerns to silence legitimate political expression.
Several layers of complexity require careful consideration in analysing this incident. The real and serious threat of anti-Semitism in Europe cannot be dismissed, yet it must be understood alongside the distinction between anti-Semitism and criticism of state actions. Simultaneously, the presence of Islamophobia in European discourse creates additional concerns, particularly in how different forms of racism and discrimination intersect and are differently recognised and addressed in public discourse. The role of football culture in expressing and amplifying political tensions adds yet another dimension to this scenario.
The case study reveals critical insights about contemporary media coverage and political discourse. The power dynamics involved in shaping public understanding of events become evident through the role of institutional voices in framing incidents and the importance of alternative media channels in providing fuller context. The spatial politics at play—how global conflicts manifest in local European spaces, the significance of public spaces in expressing political solidarity, and the role of sport in international political tensions—demonstrate the multiple layers through which political conflicts are expressed and understood.
Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism provides crucial insight into how Western media continues to frame Middle Eastern conflicts and actors through particular ideological lenses that often reinforce existing power relations. The disproportionate response to these events—with EU leadership speaking out forcefully about this incident while remaining comparatively silent on other forms of violence—exemplifies what scholars like Sherene Razack call the “casting out” of Muslims from Western political space. Here, Islamophobia operates not just as individual prejudice but as a structural force that shapes media narratives and political responses.
The implications of such asymmetrical attention and response are significant. When certain forms of violence receive immediate high-level condemnation while others are normalised or ignored, it reinforces what Liz Fekete terms “xeno-racism” — a form of racism that works through cultural and political frames rather than explicit biological ones. Simultaneously, the media’s role in this process, as Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model suggests, often serves to manufacture consent for particular political positions while marginalising others. This theoretical understanding points towards the need for structural solutions that go beyond simply calling for “balanced” reporting.
We need not just better journalism but a fundamental rethinking of how we understand and respond to political violence in European spaces. Scholars like Arun Kundnani have shown how the privileging of certain forms of racism over others creates hierarchies of suffering that ultimately undermine genuine anti-racist work. The Amsterdam incident thus is both a warning and an opportunity— a chance to recognise how media narratives shape political reality and to develop more nuanced, historically informed responses to political conflicts.
Postcscript (13 November): This issue is still being discussed in the Netherlands, with wide divisions in relation to different accounts of what happened and the consequences of the actions taken by the Maccabi football supporters and the responses by counter-protestors and pro-Palestinian activists. In Isreael, the media narrative is of a ‘progrom’ against innocent Isreaelis who were attacked unprovoked. The King of the Netherlands, the Prime Minister, and the Mayor of Amsterdam have all described it as a night of despicable anti-semitism reminiscent of past programs. Leaders around the world have warned about anti-semitism in Europe, which is more dramatic and insidious because ‘immigrants’ are involved. Meanwhile, the voices of those who were attacked, the feelings of ordinary Amstedam residents, and the overarching balaning forces to smooth out the teension and to move beyond the victimology that leads to inmpunity are all missing. It is also true that there were some instances of anti-semitism, and it remains an issue in Europe, but normalising the idea that Isreali suffering is the only suffering to be considered is disingenuous and undermines the true struggle against anti-Semitism and the racism that lies behind it (the claim and also the fight). Below are two podcasts worth watching. The first is from Owen Jones from The Guardian, who discusses how Sky News doctored its own news reel as it did not, allegedly, quite meet the standards of broadcasting, as claimed, but in reality it removes much of the critical content. The other is from Al Jazeera English, which focuses on the wider dynamics of institutionalised racism and international sports.
