{"id":11768,"date":"2026-05-15T10:21:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/11768\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:21:46","slug":"dutch-police-investigate-arson-attack-on-rotterdam-synagogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/11768\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch police investigate arson attack on Rotterdam synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A synagogue on ABN Davidsplein in Rotterdam, western Netherlands on Friday after a fire started.-\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A fire erupted at the entrance to a synagogue in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam early Friday morning and police said they were treating it as arson.<\/p>\n

The blaze that started around 3:40 a.m. (0240 GMT) died down quickly and nobody was injured, police said in a message on X that called for witnesses to come forward. There were no immediate arrests.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers and Jewish organizations condemned what they called an antisemitic attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the physical manifestation of antisemitism: after words and threats, actions now follow,\u201d Chanan Hertzberger, the chairman of the Central Jewish Council, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAntisemitism is no longer a fringe phenomenon in the Netherlands; it is manifesting itself increasingly brazenly. Now even right up to the doors of our houses of worship,\u201d Hertzberger added.<\/p>\n

Justice and Security Minister David van Weel voiced support for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must not tolerate antisemitism, intimidation, and violence,\u201d he said on X, adding that Jews \u201cmust feel safe in the Netherlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Synagogues around the world have been on edge and ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

The attack came a day after a naturalized U.S. citizen who born in Lebanon crashed a vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit, Michigan<\/a>, in what the FBI called an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was armed with a rifle, was killed by security after ramming into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit. The synagogue\u2019s staff, teachers and 140 children at its early childhood centre were not injured.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A synagogue on ABN Davidsplein in Rotterdam, western Netherlands on Friday after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2191,2181,2192,2174,2172,2193,1256,2171,2186,2187,2183,2173,2170,74,1425,206,2185,2180,2204,2175,2176,587,2182,696,155,2194,2178,2199,2200,2202,2197,2201,2195,2198,2177,2189,2190,802,2188,2196,41,893,670,305,2184,2179,831,2203],"class_list":{"0":"post-11768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rotterdam","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-northwest-territories","38":"tag-nova-scotia","39":"tag-nunavut","40":"tag-ontario","41":"tag-pei","42":"tag-photos","43":"tag-political-news","44":"tag-political-opinion","45":"tag-politics","46":"tag-politics-news","47":"tag-quebec","48":"tag-rotterdam","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}