Returning to Amsterdam this late summer, I was immediately intrigued by the three letters in red spray paint adorning every corner of my metro stop: ADF. After seeing it there in ZuidOost for the first time, I started noticing the insignia everywhere in the whole city. This ubiquity had to prompt a research (as well as this piece): the three letters stand for Amsterdam Defence Force and Their social media presence is quite robust (circa 4.000 followers on Instagram and 1.500 likes on Facebook). It was then quite easy to enter this enticing rabbit hole, lured by one ambiguous post with its barely intelligible dog whistle after another. After hours gathering intel, the most persistent feeling I had to deal with was incompleteness: I think that my mental categories are just insufficient to get them altogether; further, I have this incessant vision that I am missing something, either between the lines or behind a veil.
Let me give you a gist of their introductory mission statement:
"ADF guards over the culture of Mokum. We give a signal to everything and everyone who comes here to live, work or have fun. Amsterdam will remain Amsterdam [...]" . Following this these precepts, expressed through strenuous repetition, I think the words that describe them most are radically (and rebelliously) conservative. Their declared aim is to preserve Amsterdam as they imagine it, and this message is staerkly sustained through a continuous flow of merch with their slogans and posts about them. After a few seconds, any observer scrolling through their pages would read "Alle yuppen De Pijp Uit" (All young urban professionals out of De Pijp), prevalent through the years, "Amsterdam voor Amsterdammers", "Amsterdam is geen Nederland". Noticeably, these black shirts and hoodies are mainly worn either by men aged roughly between 35 and 60, often cultivating a 'thug' aesthetic - covering their face or censoring it with skull emojis or tv static - or put - extremely tackily - right above women's butts.
All of their messaging points towards a civically-engaged selective xenophobia: while people are not rejected for the mere fact of having another national heritage (Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese flags appear and are even celebrated from time to time), it is clear that the persona of the outsider is certainly non grata. There is one post, which gets routinely reposted and receives above-average interactions, quite explicitly encapsulating this feeling: “You can come here to live. You can come here to work. You can come here to drink. But you will never become an Amsterdammer XXX”. The way race is addressed remains quite peculiar; a pseudo-manifesto published in 2020, amid their protest against a restrictive and paternalizing government of mayor Femke Halsema and the left, reads: “Amsterdam has the most cultures per square meter. Adapt yourself. We are not against people of a skin color other than the Aryan race. We are not against refugees. We are not right or left. We fight for the preservation of Amsterdam culture.”.
In fact, it seems that their position is markedly anti-state power and anti-politics as a realm and as an omnipresent malleating force. As belligerent agents of the state and their most recognizable representatives, the police have often been targets of scorn from the ADF. To fully understand this position, I am now introducing another crucial aspect of the identity of the group: they are part of the Ajax ultras. Amsterdamse identity seems intertwined with being an Ajacied [a slogan: “One goal, one city, one club, no yups”].
A striking aspect appears in their symbology as Ajax fans: identification with Jewish identity. The fans of the team have, now for decades, been identified as joden due to the notorious presence of the people in the capital, while no real link was ever in place with the team or its fans. The ultras of rival teams, though, instrumentalized this historical and demographic memory to deplorably insult Ajax fans (for instance hissing to emulate gas chambers or showing the roman salute towards the opposition stand). In turn, this caused the Amsterdam football followers to create a strong bond with the Jewish identity and assimilate Jewish and Israeli identity in their fandom. This is displayed time and time again in the ADF pages (images). As hard as I scoured, though, I could not find any reference to the current Israeli attacks in the Middle East, which I believe suggests that this identification is profoundly idealized and for the main part disconnected with the contemporary status quo.
Further, it seems that their antagonism towards the police has been polarized via frequent clashes of the hooligan wings of Ajax. Martyrization of subjects of police force happens often and, most recently, after the declaration of a police strike during the biggest games of the season, and their subsequent postponing, incitement against the police and their headquarters was posted.
I just cannot seem to be satisfied with where I have gotten so far. Even though every single piece of digital paraphernalia added something to this enthralling picture, something still appears off to me about my understanding of the ADF. Something is missing. Ultimately, I think that vacant piece is materiality: e-research can only bring one this far without seeing and feeling the pivotal salience of bodies in the observation of popular movements, especially when corporal congregation is crucial for the people themselves. So keep an eye out around the ArenA or the three graffitied letters.
Image: Carme Ferrando Soriano
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