Amsterdam wasn’t always a hostile place for Jews, as Ian Buruma demonstrates in his biography of Baruch/Benedict Spinoza

A soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam in November resulted in a pogrom.

Peter Bergen : Amsterdam was once a beacon of religious freedom that welcomed thousands of Spanish and Portuguese exiles in the wake of the expulsion of Castille and Portugal .

He says Spinoza 's ideas could only have taken root in such a unique political and religious milieu as 17th century Holland .

Spinoza declared his own personal freedom by departing Amsterdam in 1661 for the quiet village of Rijnsburg .

He wrote that a thinking person can be free by “directly uniting his intellect with God,” which he equated with nature.

In advocating a civil religion to which people of all faiths could subscribe, he conspicuously criticized the Jewish people.