Amsterdam shul and Jewish hospice attacked by vandals

Police in the Netherlands are investigating vandalism at a synagogue and a hospice for people dying of terminal diseases.

The incident at the Immanuel Hospice occurred earlier this month, the AT5 television channel reported, where a man wearing a sports jacket dislodged and stole two security cameras in the early hours of the morning.

The synagogue incident occurred at Chabad Central Amsterdam, according to the  Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad newspaper. Unidentified individuals hurled bricks at one of the building’s windows in what a police spokesman told the weekly was an incident “with all the signs of a deliberate attack against a Jewish institution.”

The incidents follow an attack last month where the window at a kosher restaurant in Amsterdam was shattered by a Syrian man who was waving a Palestinian flag as two police officers and passers-by watched. The officers arrested the man after he broke into the restaurant through the door he had smashed and removed an Israeli flag.

Dutch Jewish leaders criticised police for releasing the man, whose trial is ongoing, after 60 hours in detention and despite reports that he said he planned similar actions in the future.

In July, police dialed back their armed security around Jewish community buildings, replacing several watch posts manned by agents with security cameras. Security was increased again following the kosher restaurant incident.