Netherlands mosque attacks and rising Islamophobia
The Essalam mosque in Rotterdam, the biggest in the country, opened on December 18, 2010 [Valerie Kuypers/EPA]
Imam Azzedine Karrat received this letter at his mosque [Courtesy of Azzedine Karrat]
Religious and ethnic minorities feel the consequences of growing intolerance as mosques and asylum centres are targeted.
Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Charif Slimani, the imam of the Moroccan mosque in Roosendaal in the Netherlands, arrived early on the morning of November 14, 2015, to prepare his sermon for the Friday prayer.
He had not slept that night because of the attacks in Paris and had been contemplating what he should say during his sermon to address them. When he arrived at the mosque, however, he was surprised to discover that the prayer room was unusually empty.
"There was smoke coming from the room and a heavy, penetrating smell of gas. We initially thought that a gas line had been broken," said Slimani, 42. "So we decided to pray elsewhere."
The police arrived a few hours later and revealed that gallons of gasoline had been distributed throughout the prayer room. The perpetrator had tried but failed to start a fire.
The damage to the mosque was minor, but, the imam explained, the community was traumatised.
"The fear, the worries, the feeling that you are not safe anymore: that damage is a lot worse. That hurts more than the material damage," he said. "Although we have cameras, we ensure that there is always someone present to guard the mosque, also during the night."
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Rotterdam, the Netherlands - Charif Slimani, the imam of the Moroccan mosque in Roosendaal in the Netherlands, arrived early on the morning of November 14, 2015, to prepare his sermon for the Friday prayer.
He had not slept that night because of the attacks in Paris and had been contemplating what he should say during his sermon to address them. When he arrived at the mosque, however, he was surprised to discover that the prayer room was unusually empty.
"There was smoke coming from the room and a heavy, penetrating smell of gas. We initially thought that a gas line had been broken," said Slimani, 42. "So we decided to pray elsewhere."
The police arrived a few hours later and revealed that gallons of gasoline had been distributed throughout the prayer room. The perpetrator had tried but failed to start a fire.
The damage to the mosque was minor, but, the imam explained, the community was traumatised.
"The fear, the worries, the feeling that you are not safe anymore: that damage is a lot worse. That hurts more than the material damage," he said. "Although we have cameras, we ensure that there is always someone present to guard the mosque, also during the night."
Neo-Nazi symbols
