Amsterdam: A powerful explosion rocked a Jewish school in an upscale residential neighborhood on Amsterdam’s south side on Saturday morning, causing significant damage but no injuries.
City Mayor Femke Halsema swiftly described the incident as a “deliberate attack against the Jewish community,” underscoring rising antisemitic tensions in the Dutch capital.
Emergency services, including police and firefighters, arrived promptly to secure the area as investigators began probing the blast.
The explosion caused no injuries, but emergency responders — including police and firefighters — quickly secured the scene. Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage that captured a person placing the device, AFP reported, citing the mayor. No group has claimed responsibility.
“This is a cowardly act of aggression against the Jewish community. Jewish people in Amsterdam are increasingly confronted with an
tisemitism. This is unacceptable,” Halsema said, according to Reuters.
The attack fits a disturbing pattern across the Netherlands and beyond. Just a day earlier, on Friday, a Rotterdam synagogue erupted in flames after an explosion around 3:40 a.m. local time. Though no one was hurt there, Dutch authorities ramped up security at Jewish institutions nationwide. Police later stopped a suspicious vehicle near another Rotterdam synagogue and detained four men; one driver’s description matched a suspect from the synagogue incident.
This follows a Monday explosion at a synagogue some 200 km southeast in neighboring Belgium. Belgian authorities deemed that blast antisemitic, noting damage but no injuries.
Dutch opposition leader and MP Geert Wilders swiftly criticized the government’s response. “Another attack on a Jewish target; after the fire at the Rotterdam synagogue now an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam,” he posted online. He continued: “Antisemitism is growing every day. Unacceptable. Action is needed. Prime Minister Jetten, mayor Halsema, and the police rather join iftars than fight anti-Jewish hatred.”
These incidents come against th backdrop of rising global tensions escalating following recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the latter’s retaliation against the US and Israel.