Amsterdam Jewish School Latest Target In A Week Of Antisemitic And Islamist Violence

European authorities are investigating an overnight explosion that struck a Jewish school in Amsterdam, the latest in what officials say is a troubling string of Islamic attacks targeting Jewish communities across the West.

The blast struck the exterior wall of a Jewish school in the Buitenveldert neighborhood, widely regarded as the Dutch capital’s modern Jewish quarter and home to synagogues, kosher restaurants, and religious schools. Authorities said the explosion caused minor structural damage, charring part of the outer wall and damaging a rainpipe, but no injuries were reported.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema condemned the incident as a deliberate act of intimidation against the city’s Jewish population. “This is a cowardly act of aggression towards the Jewish community,” Halsema said, adding that additional security will be deployed around Jewish institutions throughout the city.

Dutch police say investigators have obtained images of the suspect believed to have detonated the device, though no arrests have been announced.

The incident comes amid a surge of antisemitic attacks in Europe. Earlier this week, an explosive device ignited a fire at a synagogue entrance in Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second-largest city. Police later arrested four teenage suspects nearby after officers spotted a vehicle driving erratically near another synagogue.

In Liège, Belgium, a synagogue was also struck by an explosion earlier in the week, an attack local officials described as antisemitic.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said the Amsterdam bombing would prompt renewed security consultations with Jewish leaders. “There must be no place for antisemitism in the Netherlands,” Jetten said in a post on social media. “I understand the anger and fear and will quickly engage in talks with the Jewish community. They must always feel safe in our country.”

The European incidents come as authorities in the United States are also grappling with a series of threats and attacks linked to extremist ideologies targeting Jewish institutions.

However, the trend of antisemitic and general Islamist violence was not contained to just Europe. In Michigan, a gunman rammed a vehicle into Temple Israel, the largest Reform Jewish congregation in the United States, before opening fire. The attacker was killed in a shootout with armed security, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which described the incident as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

Authorities said the synagogue’s security team engaged the attacker after he drove a vehicle through the building’s entrance, sparking a fire and filling parts of the synagogue with smoke. No congregants were killed, though one security guard was injured after being struck by the attacker’s vehicle.

The Michigan attack came shortly after a separate act of terrorism at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where a gunman identified as Mohammad Bailor Jalloh opened fire inside an academic building. Three people were wounded and one later died from their injuries. Officials said Jalloh, a former National Guard soldier previously convicted of supporting the terror group Islamic State, was killed at the scene.

Then earlier in March, there was an attempted bombing in New York City in which two suspects deployed improvised explosive devices outside Gracie Mansion during competing protests. Authorities said the devices contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive compound frequently used in terrorist attacks.

According to investigators, the suspects allegedly admitted they were inspired by ISIS propaganda. The case has been taken over by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Security officials have warned that Jewish institutions remain frequent targets for extremists, particularly during periods of heightened geopolitical tension involving Israel and Iran. For Jewish communities in Amsterdam and beyond, the latest explosion underscores fears that synagogues, schools, and community centers remain symbolic targets for violent actors.

Authorities say the investigation into the Amsterdam attack remains ongoing.