According to everyone involved whom I spoke to in the Schilderswijk, this was a deliberate provocation by people from outside the neighbourhood around Morocco’s matches during the World Cup. Inadequate source-checking and uncritical repetition subsequently resulted in Dutch people of Moroccan origin being associated as a group with the chants. In this way, an image of a serious antisemitic outburst spread through the Netherlands and Israel, and across international social media. This reconstruction shows how that could happen and proposes ways of preventing, as far as possible, collective journalistic failures in which media outlets—whether knowingly or otherwise—follow one another uncritically.
On 8 July, the police met neighbourhood organisations at the Believe Together Foundation to discuss previous football-related disturbances in the Schilderswijk and the role of people from outside the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, this did not help. A day later, following the France–Morocco match, disturbances broke out again. On 10 July, alarming reports appeared, including on the Jewish news website Jonet.
It was alleged that young Moroccans had chanted, among other things, ‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas’. The report also reached Israeli media, which—unlike their Dutch counterparts—gave it prominent coverage. Israel’s public television broadcaster aired a clip in which ‘All Jews are gay’ can be heard, but claimed that the gas-chamber chant had also been shouted. Ynet, Israel’s largest online news platform, likewise gave prominent coverage to the gas-chamber chant. The Israeli historian Dr Ofer Nur, who researches the influence of social media on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, reacted with shock that same day: ‘So soccer fans shout in Holland “Jews to the gas chambers”?’
Jonet’s report also caused concern within the Jewish community. Our Anna Lindh Foundation adviser Hanneke Gelderblom received a call about it from Rabbi Asjer Waterman and subsequently telephoned me. That concerned response is entirely understandable. The chant ‘Jews to the gas’ directly evokes the gas chambers of the Holocaust and ranks among the most serious antisemitic language imaginable.
Salima Essakkati, a Moroccan-Dutch imam and artist living in Enschede and the founder of the Jewish–Islamic Friendship Group, opposes the negative portrayal of Dutch people of Moroccan origin. She points to Morocco’s centuries-old Jewish community and the tens of thousands of Israelis who have visited Morocco each year since relations were normalised in 2020.
Since 2024, criticism of Israeli policy has increased sharply both in Morocco and among many Dutch people of Moroccan origin. The events surrounding the Ajax–Maccabi Tel Aviv match in November 2024, followed by an intense political and public debate, have placed relations under further strain. Several politicians and commentators also contributed to this by explicitly linking the events to broader negative statements about Dutch people of Moroccan origin and Islam.
Negative perceptions arise when facts or images are selectively highlighted and then widely disseminated. This process is also exploited politically and can set population groups against one another. ‘Such perceptions can persist for a long time, particularly among the groups that fall victim to them,’ says former Jewish senator Hanneke Gelderblom, ‘reducing people’s willingness to engage in dialogue. That is precisely why reports must be investigated to establish their origin and accuracy and to refute deliberately misleading representations.’
Where is the source?
Jonet referred to reports by freelance journalist Marc Wurfbain, who wrote on X at 10.43 pm on 9 July that both ‘All Jews are gay’ and ‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas’ had been chanted on the Vaillantlaan. In the video he posted with the message, the first chant is clearly audible; the second is not. It is also striking that other journalists who were present that evening did not mention the Holocaust-related chant and that several residents deny that it was shouted. Attempts to reach Marc Wurfbain for comment were unsuccessful. According to journalist Owen O’Brien, who was also at the scene that evening, Wurfbain’s video has been viewed more than a million times. O’Brien did not answer my question as to whether he had heard the chants. NRC and NOS were also present but did not report the Holocaust-related chant.
The Dutch news agency ANP had a reporter and photographer at the scene that night. In a report issued at 2.05 am, the agency mentioned ‘All Jews are gay’; the Holocaust-related chant was absent. At 9.11 am, the avowedly conservative-nationalist international social-media account Visegrád24 circulated the same video, presenting it as fact that ‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas’ had also been shouted. At 9.34 am, the chant appeared for the first time in a new ANP report. It stands to reason that if a reporter personally heard such a serious chant, they would mention it immediately. It is therefore all the more remarkable that it was absent from the 2.05 am report and added only later.
ANP bears a particular responsibility in this respect. Newspapers that are unable to be at the scene themselves must be able to rely implicitly on a news agency. I therefore asked ANP for the source of this addition. The reporter concerned is away on a long holiday, but ANP stated that observations for which no further source is given come from its own reporter at the scene. It would be advisable to verify this with the reporter upon their return.
It remains noteworthy that the Holocaust-related chant cannot be heard in the available videos. What can be heard is ‘All Jews are gay’. The Times of Israel also reviewed the footage and was unable to verify that ‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas’ had been shouted.
Events then moved quickly. Dutch, Israeli and other foreign media repeated the report. Some headlines presented the chant, without qualification, as an established fact.
Because I could find no video or audio recording in which the gas-chamber chant was audible, I visited the locations shown in the footage and spoke to residents and business owners in cafés and shops, most of them of Moroccan and Turkish origin.
Their frustration was considerable. Residents born and raised in the Netherlands said that people coming to the Schilderswijk from other parts of The Hague and even from outside the city around football matches cause them a great deal of trouble. Some even arrive with their faces covered in order to cause disorder. They are also annoyed that, following incidents, they are repeatedly described as ‘Moroccan’ or ‘Turkish’ rather than Dutch. According to them, misconduct by individuals is quickly presented as the behaviour of ‘the Moroccans’ and then linked to Islam as well.
Jewish Schilderswijk resident Itai Cohn was present after the match at the location on the Vaillantlaan referred to in the reports. He did not hear the gas-chamber chant.
Historical context
‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas’ is not a chant invented by young Moroccans. It has been documented in Dutch football since 2004 and has been heard among supporters of ADO Den Haag, Feyenoord, Vitesse and PSV, often in connection with matches against Ajax. This is related to Ajax supporters having adopted the nickname ‘Jews’ as a badge of pride.
That does not make the chant one iota less antisemitic. It does mean, however, that an existing Dutch hooligan phenomenon must not be presented as a specifically Moroccan phenomenon without further substantiation.
What does ‘All Jews are gay’ mean?
According to Salima Essakkati, this chant must also be understood against the background of football culture, in which supporters insult one another with provocative chants. She notes that chants such as ‘All Germans are gay’ also occur. In that context, ‘All Jews are gay’ is likewise aimed primarily at Ajax supporters.
Several middle-aged Schilderswijk residents told me that, in this particular street chant, ‘Jews’ refers to the police. Although substantial investment has been made in recent years in relations between the police and young people, relations with some young Moroccans in the neighbourhood are not without tension. A massive police presence during demonstrations and experiences of improper police conduct provoke reactions. This may explain why this particular chant is used.
Even if that explanation is correct, however, the problem does not disappear. Why is ‘Jew’ used as an insult for someone one dislikes? And why is ‘gay’ used as an insult?
Every form of intolerance must be challenged. Schools and youth workers who have the trust of young Dutch people of Moroccan origin can play an important role in this. They can encourage young people to reflect on the effect their words have on others. A youth may mean that he is angry with the police; a Jewish resident of The Hague who hears ‘All Jews are gay’ hears something entirely different.
Even if the police are the intended target, such words can harm the speakers’ own community. Within a matter of hours, a video of a handful of shouting young people can develop internationally into a story about ‘the Moroccans’, or even about antisemitism among Dutch Muslims.
From perceptions to dialogue
This reveals a mechanism capable of intensifying polarisation. Following disturbances in which dozens of people are arrested, one person on X reports a serious chant that others cannot independently verify. Social media spread the report and combine it with footage in which not all the reported words can be heard. Other media outlets repeat the story. Along the way, uncertainty, attribution and context are at risk of being lost, while generalisations continue to spread.
Residents do not recognise themselves in the resulting portrayal, causing their distrust of the media, the police and other parties involved to grow. As a result, legitimate warnings about antisemitism can also more readily be dismissed as scaremongering. In this way, each step can reinforce the next.
It need not remain this way. In my conversations in the Schilderswijk, I suggested that residents enter into dialogue with a rabbi. No one objected to the proposal. Through personal contact between key local figures, inflammatory messages on social media can be identified and discussed more quickly and, where necessary, nipped in the bud.
Residents are fully entitled to protest against generalisations. Teachers and youth workers can show young people how harmful their words are—not only to others, but also to their own community.
When reporting serious allegations, media outlets must remain as close as possible to their primary sources and clearly distinguish between their own observations, audiovisual material and information supplied by third parties. We believe it would be desirable to establish an independent organisation in the Netherlands that systematically assesses whether media outlets comply with the journalistic code of conduct, rather than relying exclusively on complaints from those directly involved.
The police reported 29 arrests but have released no information about the composition of this group. Because reports quickly began referring to ‘young Moroccans’, greater transparency is desirable in order to counter unfounded generalisations and rumours.
Believe Together proposes designated fan zones, allowing visitor flows to be organised more effectively and troublemakers from outside the neighbourhood to be kept out more successfully. There are ways to counter this kind of polarisation. It begins with carefully established facts, avoiding generalisations and a willingness to hold one another to account.
