Druze hero saves Jewish lives in Amsterdam attack on Friday
An Israeli Druze man was commended for his bravery during the violent attacks following the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match in Amsterdam last Friday.
Arab-Israeli activist Joseph Haddad introduced the Druze hero on 𝕏.
“Melhem Asad, a longtime fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv” attending the game in Amsterdam “took an active part in searching for and rescuing Jews from the lynchings of the terror-supporting immigrants.”
Haddad’s 𝕏 post began with the words, “You will not hear this story… on the BBC, not on Al Jazeera, not in any media.” He then expressed gratitude for Asad’s courage in saving Jewish lives.
During what has since widely been dubbed a pogrom, there was a coordinated attack on Israelis after a soccer match in Amsterdam with groups of assailants demanding passports to ascertain whether or not the victims were Jewish.
Haddad explained how Asad was able to intervene to protect his fellow Israelis.
“His strategy was to speak loudly in the Arabic language together with a group of Israeli fans and thus managed to mislead the terrorists, making them think that the group he was with were all Arabs and not Jews, and as a result, they left them alone.”
Asad, a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan from the Druze town of Kisra-Sumei told Israel’s Channel 12 News, “The local police just screwed up.”
He added, “They didn’t guard us, we felt really exposed.”
Having heard a group of Arabic-speaking assailants planning to attack the Israeli fans, he bravely approached the group to dissuade them.
“I told them that no Jews are still here and that they escaped. I did everything to confuse them… I directed them the other way and then ran toward groups of Israelis and warned them that there are immigrants who are looking to hurt them,” Asad explained.
The Times of Israel reported that Asad said the violence reminded him of Hamas terrorists attacking southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7 of last year.
He urged the Israeli soccer fans to remove their shirts so they couldn’t be identified.
Haddad explained how Asad had repeatedly used his strategy of conspicuously speaking Arabic to rescue multiple groups of Israelis.
“This rescue took many hours and he did it several times because quite a few of the Jewish Maccabi fans were under attack in restaurants and bars, unable to get to their hotels, and Melhem repeated his trick over and over to help more Israelis.”
Haddad ended his post by expressing the significance of Asad’s actions and how they exemplified brotherhood between Jews and Arabs, showing that peace is possible.
“Melhem, you're a true hero and an example of the true partnership between Jews and Arabs. Thank you for saving Israeli lives yesterday.”
For his part, Asad gave credit to God, saying, “I feel that God sent me at the right time and to the place to save whoever I could.”
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Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.
