Trouble In Tulip Land...
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/in...tml?oref=login

November 9, 2004

Dutch Muslim School Bombed; Link to Killing Suspected

By CRAIG S. SMITH

"EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands, Nov. 8 - A bomb damaged a Muslim elementary
school here before dawn on Monday, in what the authorities say they believe
was intended as an act of revenge for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker last
week.

No one was wounded in the attack, in which a medium-sized bomb exploded
outside the Tarieq Ibnu Zyad Islamic school. The blast blew out windows and
knocked the school's green doors ajar. Late in the day, police investigators
in white protective suits continued to comb the wreckage for clues.

The Dutch authorities have been bracing for reprisals against Muslims after
the killing on Nov. 2 of Theo van Gogh, a filmmaker widely known for his
mocking criticism of conservative Muslims. The main suspect in the killing
is a young Muslim who sought to make contact with militant groups in the
past.

The bombing was the most serious incident of anti-Muslim violence in recent
days, but not the only one. Extra police officers have been put on the
streets of some cities, and politicians have appealed for calm before Mr.
van Gogh's funeral on Tuesday, which is also the anniversary of
Kristallnacht, the wave of anti-Semitic attacks pushed by Hitler in 1938.
The anniversary has inspired anti-immigration acts in Europe in the past.

Mr. van Gogh's killing has unleashed widespread anger toward the country's
growing conservative Muslim population, much of which rejects the liberal
tenets of Dutch society. The conflict is echoed across Europe, where decades
of gradual Muslim immigration have created communities that are often at
odds with the larger societies.

But Muslims argue that those frustrations, fueled by a fear of terrorism,
unfairly taint the country's broader Muslim population. Eindhoven's 20,000
Muslims, in particular, say they have been battling a reputation for
harboring Islamic extremists since the town was cited in news reports
several years ago.

After the explosion on Monday, the city's mayor called for unity.

"It is essential that we stick together," the mayor, Alexander Sakkers, said
after a news conference at the city hall. "We are a multicultural society
working very well together, and we can't allow a few idiots to pull us
apart."

Last year, firebombs were thrown through the windows of the same school,
setting a hallway on fire. That attack appeared to have been a reaction to
the acquittal of 12 men who had been charged with recruiting Muslims in the
Netherlands for Islamic holy wars abroad.

Al Fourqaan mosque, which shares a building with Al Fourqaan Islamic Center,
the organization that operates the school, was investigated on suspicion of
taking part in the recruiting network after two young Eindhoven men who had
attended the mosque were killed in Kashmir, the territory contested by India
and Pakistan.

Subsequent reports said two of the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
on the United States, Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, once attended a
conference at the mosque, a charge that leaders of the mosque deny.

"It's ludicrous," said Saeed Muhammad, spokesman for the mosque, complaining
that accusations in the news media take on a life of their own. He called
the bombing on Monday "an act of terror against Muslims and kids at the same
time" and decried a double standard that taints all Muslims for acts carried
out by individuals like Mr. van Gogh's killer.

Mr. Sakkers, the mayor, said the investigation of the mosque had found no
wrongdoing and insisted that the city did not deserve its reputation as an
extremist hotbed. "There are no groups of extremists here," he said.

City officials said late Monday that investigators had yet to determine the
kind of explosive used or the identity of the attackers. They ordered
round-the-clock police protection of the school and the city's five main
mosques."

/

All this was started by last week's assasination of controversial film
maker Theo van Gogh.

Apart from vandalism on mosques and churches here's today's event:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3998347.stm


Three Dutch police officers have been wounded in an explosion during an
anti-terror raid on a house in The Hague.

Two of them remain in hospital after the grenade blast, police say.
Shots were also fired during the raid.

The area - near the Holland Spoor train station - was sealed off and
airspace immediately over it was closed.

Meanwhile a Muslim school in Uden has been burned down - part of a spate
of attacks following the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh, a critic of
Islam.

Attacks have targeted Christian and Muslim buildings across the
Netherlands.

Fire at Muslim school in Uden - suspected arson
A Muslim school in the southern village of Uden was gutted by fire

Ethnic tensions

In Uden, the words "Theo, rest in peace" were scrawled on the school
walls.

Police said there were still suspects in the building raided in The
Hague on Wednesday.

"At the moment of assault, a hand grenade was thrown at the arrest
team," said Hague Police Chief Gerard Bouwman. "It exploded and several
officers were hurt."

Mayor Wim Deetman said negotiators were trying to end the standoff
peacefully.

Van Gogh, murdered in Amsterdam a week ago, had received death threats
after the release of his latest film controversially portraying domestic
violence in Muslim societies. It showed images of a semi-naked woman
with Koranic script daubed on her body.

Dutch views on Van Gogh's death

In pictures
Six suspects, believed to be members of an Islamic militant group,
remain in custody, including the alleged killer, 26-year-old Mohammed
Bouyeri, who holds dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality.

Terror alert

In Wednesday's raid in The Hague, the building was surrounded by police
in riot gear, fire engines, ambulances and special forces.

Police evacuated neighbours and they were bussed to local shelters.

Mr Bouwman said one of the injured police officers had been briefly
treated and sent home to rest, while the other two remained in hospital,
with one seriously wounded.

"No vital organs were hurt, but he suffered considerable injuries," he
said.

Mr Bouwman confirmed that police and the suspects had exchanged gunfire,
the Associated Press reported.

A little-known Islamist group threatened on Tuesday to strike at the
Netherlands if the attacks on Muslim buildings did not stop.

To mark Van Gogh's funeral on Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators,
including many Muslims, gathered on the spot where he was killed to
appeal for a return to the traditional Dutch value of tolerance.


--
Groeten/Regards
Jeroen Wijnands
jeroen at wijnands punt xs4all punt nl

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 11:39:25 +0100, wrote:

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 23:43:33 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/in...tml?oref=login

November 9, 2004

Dutch Muslim School Bombed; Link to Killing Suspected

By CRAIG S. SMITH

"EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands, Nov. 8 - A bomb damaged a Muslim elementary
school here before dawn on Monday, in what the authorities say they believe
was intended as an act of revenge for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker last
week.

No one was wounded in the attack, in which a medium-sized bomb exploded
outside the Tarieq Ibnu Zyad Islamic school.

The damage looked like it had been caused by a very small sized bomb.

I was wondering about that. I've been following the news in
http://www.telegraaf.nl/ and I can imagine the Dutch people being a lot
more aware of what has been lost than the brits would be, but I just
couldn't imagine them totalling a school!


Liz

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:19:29 GMT, FF wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 11:39:25 +0100, wrote:

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 23:43:33 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
wrote:


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/in...utch.html?oref
=login

November 9, 2004

Dutch Muslim School Bombed; Link to Killing Suspected

By CRAIG S. SMITH

"EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands, Nov. 8 - A bomb damaged a Muslim elementary
school here before dawn on Monday, in what the authorities say they believe
was intended as an act of revenge for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker last
week.

No one was wounded in the attack, in which a medium-sized bomb exploded
outside the Tarieq Ibnu Zyad Islamic school.

The damage looked like it had been caused by a very small sized bomb.

I was wondering about that. I've been following the news in
http://www.telegraaf.nl/ and I can imagine the Dutch people being a lot
more aware of what has been lost than the brits would be, but I just
couldn't imagine them totalling a school!

From what I have seen on Dutch TV, much more serious has been the
arson attacks on about a dozen Muslim mosques and schools plus three
on Christian churches.

Boobytrapping apartment buildings and chucking hand grenades is not a
more serous threat ?

jay
Thu Nov 11, 2004




http://www.volkskrant.nl/ is a bit less sensational.

Just about every online newspaper there is at
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/

It isn't "them" any more than Timothy McVeigh or Lee Harvey Oswald or
the IRA or ETA or even Al-Qaeda are/were representative of anyone more
than themselves. It only takes one nutter.

PJW

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:19:29 GMT, FF wrote:
I was wondering about that. I've been following the news in
http://www.telegraaf.nl/ and I can imagine the Dutch people being a lot
more aware of what has been lost than the brits would be, but I just
couldn't imagine them totalling a school!


Liz

In article ,
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:18:36 -0800, Go Fig wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:19:29 GMT, FF wrote:

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 11:39:25 +0100, wrote:

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 23:43:33 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
wrote:



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/in...europe/09dutch.
html?oref
=login

November 9, 2004

Dutch Muslim School Bombed; Link to Killing Suspected

By CRAIG S. SMITH

"EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands, Nov. 8 - A bomb damaged a Muslim elementary
school here before dawn on Monday, in what the authorities say they
believe
was intended as an act of revenge for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker
last
week.

No one was wounded in the attack, in which a medium-sized bomb exploded
outside the Tarieq Ibnu Zyad Islamic school.

The damage looked like it had been caused by a very small sized bomb.

I was wondering about that. I've been following the news in
http://www.telegraaf.nl/ and I can imagine the Dutch people being a lot
more aware of what has been lost than the brits would be, but I just
couldn't imagine them totalling a school!

From what I have seen on Dutch TV, much more serious has been the
arson attacks on about a dozen Muslim mosques and schools plus three
on Christian churches.

Boobytrapping apartment buildings and chucking hand grenades is not a
more serous threat ?

I referred to the small explosion that damaged a door and broke the
windows. Burning down schools is more serious than that.

I guess I place a much higher value to human life than on property...

This is what I'm referring to:

Dutch police hit by siege grenade
AFP
November 12, 2004

THE HAGUE: Four police were injured when suspected Muslim extremists
threw a hand grenade at them during a 14-hour siege in The Netherlands
yesterday.

Hundreds of police and security forces descended on The Hague after a
pre-dawn raid on an apartment in a central working-class district ended
in a shootout.

Residents said that when police sent in a negotiator, one suspect
shouted: "I'm going to behead you."


Chucking hands grenades at humans is a deliberate attempt to murder,
property damage to schools does not compare, its closer to an act of
protest.

jay
Thu Nov 11, 2004




It's only 3 weeks since kids, I assume, blew the back off our nearest,
steel, post box with a bang that rattled the windows, this wasn't even
mentioned in the local paper. If somebody had been near it could have
maimed them.