Rioting broke out at a Hanukkah event in the Dutch capital hours after the deadly attack in Sydney, Australian media reported. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered Sunday night at Amsterdam’s Museum Square, where a Hanukkah event was being held at a nearby concert hall with the participation of Israel’s chief military cantor, Shai Abramson, and clashed with police.
The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans including “blood on your hands” and “child killers.” Some climbed over barriers erected at the site. Police arrested 22 rioters, saying officers “intervened several times to remove demonstrators and maintain public order.” Footage from the scene showed protesters singing, several breaching barricades, clashing with police and throwing smoke grenades. Officers used batons to disperse the crowd, and one police officer was lightly injured.
The riot in Amsterdam
(Video: De Telegraaf)
The event took place at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam’s main concert hall. In early November, the venue announced it would cancel the Hanukkah event due to Abramson’s participation, but after the decision sparked international backlash, organizers announced that the main Sunday afternoon event would proceed without him. Abramson later appeared at two private events that evening.
The unrest came hours after a shooting attack in Sydney, Australia, in which 15 people were killed and 40 wounded. Following the attack, major cities around the world, including Berlin, London and New York, increased security around Hanukkah events.
Meanwhile, in the United States, a resident of Redlands, California, said shots were fired over the weekend at his family’s home, which was decorated for Hanukkah. He said security camera footage showed about 20 rounds fired at the house three days earlier. “My family and I were attacked by an antisemitic shooter,” Jonpaul Sione Yohanan Cohen wrote on social media. He said people who had been parked outside a neighbor’s home shouted “free Palestine” at him minutes before the shooting.
Local police are investigating the incident and said no shell casings were found at the scene, raising the possibility that an air gun was used. Patrols were increased around Jewish institutions and Hanukkah events in the area.
In New York, security forces were also deployed around Hanukkah celebrations and synagogues. “We will continue to ensure the Jewish community can celebrate the holiday in safety — including at public Menorah lightings across the city. Let us pray for the injured and stand together against hatred,” Mayor Eric Adams wrote on X.
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Lighting the first candle at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
(Photo: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
London’s Metropolitan Police said security had also been reinforced there. “While there is no information to suggest any link between the attack in Sydney and the threat level in London, this morning we are stepping up our police presence, carrying out additional community patrols and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do in the coming hours and days,” the force said. A large menorah was erected in London, with one of the major lightings led by Rabbi Yosef Beitsch, attended by hundreds of Israelis.
Berlin police said security measures were being tightened around the Brandenburg Gate, where a large menorah lighting was held to mark the first night of Hanukkah. France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, also instructed local authorities to reinforce security around Jewish sites from Dec. 14 to Dec. 22, during the Hanukkah holiday.
First published: 04:57, 12.15.25