Fight at Dutch holiday park injures 2 Israeli tourists

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A fight over a paintball match at a holiday park in the Netherlands left two Israeli tourists injured, Dutch police said Friday.

The two Israeli men, one of whom had a serious head injury, were treated by paramedics after a brawl between the Israelis and a group of Dutch tourists at the park in the southern city of Westerhoven on Thursday, police said. The victims were aged 37 and 41.

A 15-year-old boy from the Netherlands was arrested for assault at the scene, police said.

“Apparently, an argument broke out between two groups over the way the game was being played. This escalated into a brawl that spilled onto a terrace,” the police said in a statement.

Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment, and said an investigation was continuing.

The Israeli government, however, compared the incident to violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last year that was condemned at the time as anti-Semitism.

“Israel calls on the Government of the Netherlands to come to its senses and act resolutely to prevent attacks on Israelis in its territory, to locate the criminals, and to bring them to justice,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.

Dozens were arrested and five people were treated in hospital in a series of violent overnight incidents following a November match between the Dutch team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

By MOLLY QUELL
Associated Press