Arab-Israeli soccer fan spoke Arabic to violent mob, saved Jewish fans

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A Druze Israeli said he spoke Arabic to Muslim attackers and warned Jewish Israelis during a violent anti-Israel riot that broke out after a soccer game in Amsterdam on Thursday.

Melhem Asad, from Kisra-Sumei, a Druze town in Israel, described how Dutch security guarded Israelis on their way to the Ajax-Maccabi game in Amsterdam. Still, the security situation fell apart at the conclusion of the game.

Asad told Channel 12, “We felt very safe, but at the end of the game the situation changed completely.”

“The fans were simply abandoned, we all got on the trains and headed for the hotels, and the local police just messed up, big time. They didn’t secure us, they didn’t watch over us, we felt very exposed,” he said.

Asad heard a group of people speaking in Arabic about their plans to attack Israelis, and that is when he realized he could use the fact that he spoke Arabic to confuse their plans.

He said, “I heard people from across the street talking in Arabic and planning on how and where to attack the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. I took advantage of the fact that I spoke Arabic and shouted at them. They thought I was one of them.

Asad continued, “I told them that the Jews were no longer here, that they had fled. I did everything to confuse them; I knew exactly where our fans were, and it worked. I convinced them to go in the other direction.”

After Asad had confused some of the mob’s plans, he ran to warn the Israelis. He recounts, “I ran towards groups of Israelis and warned them that people were trying to harm us.”

Asad told them to take them off their Maccabi shirts after he heard members of the mob saying they would attack anyone wearing a Maccabi shirt. He ran into bars and restaurants to warn Israelis.

“My goal was to save everyone possible; I saw the amount of hatred and the number of people. I started running between bars, restaurants, alleys, wherever I knew the fans were passing on the way back from the game,” Asad said.

He said that the incident in Amsterdam made him think of October 7th and the hatred of Hamas terrorists who attacked Israelis.

“My heart burned at that moment. Unfortunately, I could not save everyone, but I tried to warn as many Israelis as possible. I feel that God sent me at the right moment and in the right place to save those who can.”