Minister quits Dutch government over 'racist' reaction to attacks on Israeli football fans

Morocco-born Nora Achahbar resigns after heated cabinet discussion about violence in Amsterdam

Nora Achahbar has resigned from the Dutch government. EPA

A minister has resigned from the Dutch government over what she alleges were racist comments made by colleagues related to attacks on Israeli football fans.

Nora Achahbar, who was born in Morocco, quit after a heated cabinet discussion of the violence that flared up on the streets of Amsterdam after a football match between local club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on November 7.

Ms Achahbar, a former judge and public prosecutor, said in a statement she was resigning with “with pain in my heart”. "Polarisation in the recent weeks has had such an effect on me that I no longer can, nor wish to fulfil my position in this cabinet,” she said.

Ms Achahbar indicated at the cabinet meeting that she had objections to language used by her colleagues, after statements were made that she felt were racist, the Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported.

The Benefits and Customs Minister resigned on Friday over what she says was a culture of inappropriate, off-colour jokes by fellow cabinet members in recent weeks, a ministry representative said.

Her decision to leave threw the survival of the fragile four-party Dutch coalition government into question. The coalition, which only came to power in July, could have struggled to retain the numbers needed to govern. But Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced late on Friday that after five hours of discussions the coalition was intact, following fears other members of Ms Achahbar's New Social Contract (NSC) party would follow her.

Mr Schoof, a former spy chief without party affiliation, also vehemently denied Ms Achahbar's allegations, saying “this cabinet is against racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination. There was and is no racism”. The coalition is led by Geert Wilders's anti-Islam populist party PVV, which came first in a general election a year ago.

Mr Wilders, who is not a cabinet member, has repeatedly said Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans, and called for anyone convicted to be stripped of Dutch citizenship and deported. Palestinian flags were torn down from houses before the game and taxis damaged by visiting fans, and the situation spiralled out of control after the game ended.

Young people, some on scooters, searched for Israeli fans and punched and kicked them before fleeing police, Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema said. More than 170 witnesses have been identified and police have taken evidence from dozens of them, and Mr Schoof has said the authorities are also examining videos posted to social media.

Police said the attackers were reacting to calls on social media to attack Jewish people. Mr Schoof attributed the attacks against Israeli fans to “a specific group of young people with a migration background” though police have not specified the ethnicity of the suspects.

Police and prosecutors piecing together the details of the attacks have made five more arrests, bringing the total number of people held so far to 68. The violence took place against the backdrop of an increasingly polarised Europe, with heightened tensions following a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic attacks since the start of the war in Gaza.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in Amsterdam after ignoring a ban on demonstrations announced after the violence. A tense France-Israel football match on Thursday became an outlet for French Jews to assert their support for Israel amid heavy security and calls for a boycott over Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon.