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."

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