The Land of Tulips and Windmills

"In 2024, 1,543 attacks or attempted attacks using explosives took place in the Netherlands. That is an increase of 71% compared to 2023."

"The Offensive against Explosions today presents the action plan aimed at reversing this rising trend."

"To achieve this, the Ministry of Justice and Security (JenV), the National Police, the Public Prosecution Service, Aedes [on behalf of housing associations], municipalities, the Dutch Association of Insurers, probation organisations, VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland  [on behalf of the business community] are joining forces. Together, they take measures and interventions that address all facets of violence with explosions: prevention, detection and prosecution, aftercare and local response."

Government of the Netherlands  

An apartment building damaged by an explosion in Duivendrecht, the Netherlands. Credit...Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times

In streets across the Netherlands, roughly three times nightly what was once an anomaly and which has latterly become a regular series of incidents, loud blasts awaken residents, the results of explosions. The explosions are caused by the setting off of illegal fireworks, so powerful they detonate with the energy of grenades. Their ubiquity has reasonably enough, caused a general sense of unease among the population, never knowing where or when their sleep would turn into a nightmare of terror.

 

In Duivendrecht, an Amsterdam suburb, an explosive resounded one early morning a month ago, the power of the blast damaging a dozen apartments, blowing out their windows, but fortunately on that occasion no one was injured. An arrest has yet to be made. As for the reason behind the explosion, there is as yet no explanation. Close to 700 such explosions were recorded across the Netherlands in the first half of 2025. They are the cause of fear, they damage homes and livelihoods and on occasion cause injuries and even death.

 

Years back when they occurred, the blasts were linked to organized crime and drug trafficking when hand grenades were used to settle gang scores. According to Netherlands law enforcement officials other groups now make use of the high-strength fireworks, which though illegal, can be procured relatively easily. The suspicion by authorities is that the black-market fireworks are being used to target people in family disputes, relationship quarrels and business rivalries.  

 

Six people were killed in an explosion in The Hague last year.   Credit...Josh Walet/ANP, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

When a particularly large blast caused a fire and the partial collapse of a three-story block of apartments in December in The Hague, six people were killed. As a result of that atrocious event, four individuals were arrested to face charges. These blasts have injured at least 35 people since 2024, three severely, one of whom  lost a leg. There were just over 340 explosions in 2022, most linked to the drug trade or other organized criminal activity. In 2023 that number increased to 901, and further increased to 1,244 in 2024.

 

"It has become a very easy way to intimidate people", Carola Schouten, mayor of Rotterdam, and chairwoman of a national task force on the explosions, commented. According to officials, the blasts are organized typically on the messaging app Telegram, where illegal fireworks can be readily purchased, and people can be hired -- for the most part males in their teen years to their 20s -- to place the bombs. 

 

It is mostly in the country's large cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam that most of the explosions occur, but none of the country's 12 provinces have been spared these explosions. According to the Dutch police, 163 people have been arrested connected to the explosions in the first half of 2025 alone, most of whom are the young men who place the bomb, evidently none of those who ordered the blasts and supplied the explosives.

 

A Rotterdam area suburb saw a plumber targeted at least 28 times over many months with explosive devices. The plumber died in August of 2024 of what the Dutch media characterized as a 'heart issue'. Those responsible for the bombings were never identified, much less arrested. The mayor of the suburb commented that whoever organized the blasts "is lying on a beach chair under an umbrella, drinking a cocktail, while it was terrible here".   

"Efforts are being made to prevent attacks with measures to reduce the source of the offenders. For example, by using targeted communication to make the often vulnerable potential offenders more resilient to the temptations of fast money."

"Thus, the coaches of 'Alleen Jij Bepaalt wie je bent' (Only You Determine Who You Are) are trained in dealing with explosives. 'Alleen Jij Bepaalt wie je bent' is a recognised behavioural intervention in which young people aged 10 to 18 are guided by trained coaches who act as role models and mentors. "

"These coaches will start workshops for young people on the topic of explosions in late April. The workshops will be delivered to around 5,000 participants before the end of this year."

"Targeted communication is also used to increase people's willingness to report in order to prevent explosions or repeat explosions. To this end, collaboration takes place with, among others, Meld Misdaad Anoniem (Report Crime Anonymously).

Government of the Netherlands 

The three-story apartment block partially collapsed after the incident, firefighters said.

Jeffrey Groeneweg/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

 

"The Minister for Social Affairs [Netherlands] stated that the ministry as well as
municipalities participated in secret investigations into mosques. The
investigators were monitoring for signs of extremism and radicalization."

"In a letter to the parliament, the Minister said the investigations were not
transparent, which she regretted. Muslim community leaders said the
secret investigations damaged their trust in the government."

"Authorities said the government continued to work with representatives of the Muslim
community to reinforce their “resilience” against Wahhabism, including
meeting with community representatives to discuss challenges faced by
mosques and supporting Muslim youth vulnerable to extremism related to
religion."

"The national police reported that authorities had not issued any
fines during the year to women wearing a burqa under the law banning full-
face coverings; there are no records of fines being imposed since inception
of the law in 2019."

"The media reported increasing demands by Muslim students for prayer rooms 

in high schools and resistance from some schools, including some that did not 

want to allow any prayer."

U.S. Department of State 

Mass Antisemitic Attacks -- The New Normal

"Jews must feel safe n the Netherlands, everywhere and at all times."

"We put our arms around them and will not let them go."

Dutch King Willem-Alexander

 

"It's against everything we're proud of in Amsterdam."

"I'm very ashamed of the behaviour that was shown last night."

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema

 

"[This is the] disturbing reality of Jewish life in 2024."

"And if nothing is done to address the scourge of antisemitism targeting our community, it won't be long before Amsterdam becomes Montreal or Toronto following one of the usual weekly pro-terror demonstrations."

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

"This is a dark moment for our world -- and one we have seen before."

"My heart goes out to the victims, and the entire Jewish community today."

"Canada condemns this disgusting antisemitism."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

People protest in support of Palestine in Toronto on Saturday, October 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

 

Only one of those messages is a hypocritical lie. Canada is next in line for the kind of atrocious display of violent Jew-hate that was revealed in Amsterdam last week. The wonder is that such an event has not yet played out. But it will, as long as the country's prime minister mouths insincere inanities and fails to ensure that criminal acts of espousing hatred against an identifiable group with a view to marginalizing it and threatening violence, while fomenting dire safety and security situations; against Canada's criminal laws continue, but never are acted upon.

 

Several weeks back Canada officially placed a Palestinian group, Samidoun, inciting to violence against Israel and Jews, and more latterly against Canada as a 'colonialist' entity, on the country's terrorist list. The formal designation has done nothing to stop its co-founder from continuing to organize group protests and to deliver addresses slandering Israel and threatening Jewish Canadians, stimulating crowds of Muslims and their enablers to continue their chants of 'from the river to the sea', along with 'globalize the intifada!, both calls for the destruction of Israel. Canadian authorities fail to act.

Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff Arena was the venue that saw the Netherlands soccer team Amsterdam Ajax and Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv engage in a match, which brought out fans on both sides. Israeli fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv team travelled to the Netherlands specifically to cheer on their team. The arrival was noted by local pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel groups in the Netherlands who have long agitated against Israel as an 'occupier' of Palestinian land. The presence of Jews cheering on their team gave Amsterdam's Muslim population the opportunity to stage a mass attack by pursuing and beating Jews.

Reuters

"The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu views the horrifying incident with utmost gravity and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office statement

Now, days later, similar statements will have to circulate to Belgium, Sweden and France, where swarms of pro-Palestinian thugs have gathered with a similar project in mind; chasing down and beating Jews wherever they can be found. Amsterdam police who, in response to the pogrom of last Friday arrested some of those involved, have in fact laid no charges and all who were arrested have been released. It has been in fact revealed that some members of the Amsterdam police force refuse to intervene altogether, citing a personal moral dimension favouring the mob and damning the Jews.

The Amsterdam rampage where pro-Palestinian youth mobs, new migrants and radical Islamists sought out Jews and Israeli soccer fans, threatening, beating, forcing some of the victims to mouth 'free Palestine' as they shoved them in the canal and marched door-to-door, hotel-to-hotel int heir search for Jews, reflected a huge surge in the Netherlands of antisemitism it he wake of last year's October 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel by thousands of terrorists who raped, slaughtered and took hostages of Israeli citizens.

 

In this image taken from video, people march with Palestinian flags near the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam, November 7, 2024. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were targeted by anti-Israel rioters in what victims and witnesses said was an organized attack by Arab and Muslim gangs following a soccer match. (AP Photo InterVision)

During that time of social upheaval, reports emanated of Dutch police refusing to guard Jewish sites; the Dutch National Holocaust Museum  included, over the 'moral dilemma' they cited in reference to the Israel-Gaza-Hamas conflict. In other words, the inroads that Palestinians and Muslims in general have made in Dutch society with their antisemitism, uprooting values of tolerance and respect, tearing the fabric of democratic societies has made its indelible mark.

In Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and beyond, protests by pro-Hamas mobs with their chants to "free Palestine" and "Globalize the Intifada" have been allowed to proliferate. Mobs of Muslims have gathered in major intersections in Toronto to shut down traffic as they indulge in group prayers with a sense of entitlement, a municipal criminal offence that is yet to see those involved arrested, much less the prayer sessions interrupted for fear of being labelled 'Islamophobic'. Any time Justin Trudeau murmurs a statement of 'regrettable' over displays of antisemitism, the obligatory addition of 'Islamophobia' accompanies it.

Violence perpetrated against synagogues, Jewish parochial schools and social centres, as well as private businesses sees no response from governments at any level with a view to countering the unprecedented displays of viral hatred infecting the public sphere. To add to the anguish of an  unprotected Jewish-Canadian public under constant stress of threats, the government is proceeding with a mass intake of refugees/migrants from Gaza, where a massive proportion of the population fully approved of the atrocities of October 7, 2023.

Aftermath of Nova Music Festival Attack; stacked bodies of young Israelis

Europe, Under Islamist Threat, Forced on Its Back-Foot

"We must be able to discuss topics such as freedom of expression in our classrooms without any outside pressure."

"It may hurt when someone has an opinion that conflicts with your world view or religious conviction, but they have a right to say so in all liberty."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

 

"We are ready to accept every Tunisian, but with conditions preserving the dignity and giving him rights to access to all stages of judicial appeals in France before the deportation [in discussions of security matters between France and Tunisia; the deportation of dozens of Tunisian migrants]."

Tunisian Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine

Muslim demonstrators hold placards during a protest against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in Charlie Hebdo in London (photo credit: REUTERS)

Police in Germany Friday announced raids they had carried out on the homes and offices of four individuals they had linked to the 20-year-old man who launched an attack in Austria. German intelligence had sent a request to Austria to have them monitor several Germans who had met with Kujtim Fejzulai, the Islamist attacker shot dead after he killed four people and wounded over 20 others after opening fire in the central nightlife district of Vienna on Monday night.

The Germans had visited Austria this summer and their contacts had been monitored by German intelligence. Austrian authorities made no move to alter their risk assessment of Fejzulal, on early release from prison with a 22-month sentence for attempting to join the Islamic State, but turned back to France by Turkish authorities. Enrolled in a deradicalization course in prison, he was considered to have been effectively deradicalized, earning himself early release.

Police searches near Hamburg in homes and business premises.

 

According to Austria's Interior Minister Nehammer, "immediate personnel consequences" had resulted over the botched heads-up over Fejzulai when Erich Zwettier, head of the local intelligence office in Vienna had resigned. Mr. Nehammer admitted to "intolerable mistakes" in tracking the suspect prior to his deadly shooting spree. As a result of which he ordered the closing of mosques Austrian intelligence now deems a security risk.

Fejzulai, born in Vienna, held a North Macedonian passport; his parents had emigrated from Macedonia to Austria, accounting for the North Macedonian passport in Fejzulai's possession, as well as an Austrian passport. He had planned the attack in the knowledge that residents of Vienna would be out enjoying the last hours before the onset of a new coronavirus lockdown and curfew. His coordinated actions as he carried an automatic rifle, handgun and knife took him to six discrete sites in a matter of eight minutes where he killed four people and injured others, before he was himself shot dead nine minutes after he began his deadly spree.

Austria's security services have come under close scrutiny, particularly as it emerged on Thursday that Austrian authorities had been warned by their Slovakian counterparts in July of Fejzulai's attempts to acquire ammunition there, for an assault rifle; a "communication" problem accounted for the lack of action on Austria's part, according to Minister Nehammer. A mosque and an Islamic centre that Fejzulai was known to frequent were closed on Friday, with Integration Minister Suzanne Raab stating that institutions which are "hotbeds for the blind hatred and violence we experience(d) on Monday" are slated for closure.

Last month, an assailant who shouted "Allahu akbar!" as he beheaded a woman and attacked and killed two other people with a knife in a church in Nice placed France on high alert. A 21-year-old Tunisian had arrived by ship to Lampedusa, a popular Italian island entry point to Europe for migrants from Africa. He was ordered to return to Tunisia but made his way to Nice instead, where he planned for and carried out his deadly attack.

 

People hold a photo of the history teacher Samuel Paty , who was beheaded last week, during a memorial march in homage to him, Tuesday, Oct.20, 2020 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

 

This followed the beheading murder of French middle-school teacher Samuel Paty who had received threats from some of the parents of his students after he made use of a Charlie Hebdo satirical cartoon mocking the Prophet Mohammad, in a civics class on French values and freedom of speech. His murderer, a man of Chechen origins living in France, had set out to avenge the prophet after a video produced by a Muslim parent circulated within the Muslim community, identifying the teacher and his school.

Now, in the Netherlands a Rotterdam teacher has been forced into hiding as a result of a classroom discussion of the killing of Samuel Paty. Police arrested a female teen on suspicion of inciting threats against the Dutch teacher. Messages were posted on social media, though it was unclear whether the 18-year-old was a student at the Emmauscollege high school where the class debate occurred. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte spoke of the threats as "absurd" and "intolerable". 

 

Two 18-year-old men and a 17-year-old girl were charged Friday with "criminal terrorist conspiracy" in the murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty, a judicial source told news agency AFP.

 

That class discussion took place as a result of schools in the Netherlands, France and Germany being requested to hold a moment of silence for Paty whose death in October shocked the world community. On Monday, during a classroom discussion at the Emmauscollege, students had taken note of a bulletin board-posted cartoon that had been in place for years. Among the students, some took offence at its presence, a cartoon that won a national prize in 2015, showing a decapitated figure labelled "Charlie Hebdo" sticking out its tongue at a bearded man with a bloody sword.

 

Soon afterward a photo of the cartoon began circulating on social media, and by Tuesday the teacher who led the discussion began receiving threats, compelling him to go into hiding even as police became involved. That same day a school in a Paris suburb was reported by Le Monde as having received threats against another teacher, leading to the school being closed.

The Tewhid mosque in Vienna | Georg Hochmuth/AFP via Getty Images