Explosion rocks Amsterdam Jewish school in what mayor says is ‘targeted attack’ against Jewish community
A photograph taken on March 14 shows a police car parked outside a Jewish school
By Laura Sharman, CNN
(CNN) — An explosion struck overnight at a Jewish school in Amsterdam in what the city’s mayor called a “targeted attack against the Jewish community.”
The blast hit the outer wall of the school, located in Buitenveldert, considered the city’s modern Jewish quarter and home to synagogues, religious schools and Jewish restaurants.
Police have obtained images of the person who allegedly detonated the bomb, the City of Amsterdam told CNN in a statement.
Security in Amsterdam had been heightened following antisemitic incidents in Rotterdam and Liège in neighboring Belgium earlier the same week, the City of Amsterdam statement said.
“This is a cowardly act of aggression towards the Jewish community,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said.
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said “there must be no place for antisemitism” in the Netherlands. “I understand the anger and fear and will quickly engage in talks with the Jewish community. They must always feel safe in our country,” he posted on X.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday that he held calls with Dutch Jewish community leaders after the explosions, expressing Israel’s “solidarity” with Jews in the Netherlands.
The incident appears to be part of a recent wave of antisemitic violence in Europe amid the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
On Friday, an explosion at the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second largest city, sparked a fire at the entrance of a synagogue.
Four teenage boys have been arrested following the overnight arson attack, Rotterdam police said in a statement.
Police said that that blaze was caused by an explosive device that detonated at the synagogue. The fire broke out for a short time before burning out by itself, police said, adding that no one was injured.
The four suspects, aged 17, 18 and 19, were arrested in the vicinity of another synagogue after a vehicle that was driving erratically drew the attention of authorities.
In Belgium, a synagogue in the city of Liège was rocked by an explosion on Monday in what the city’s mayor described as an antisemitic attack, according to local media reports.
In Michigan in the US, a synagogue was targeted in a car-ramming attack on Thursday. Though the motive in that incident is still unknown, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that there’s a clear “nexus” between the Iran war and the attack, adding it’s no coincidence the suspect targeted a synagogue named Temple Israel.
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CNN’s Billy Stockwell contributed reporting.
