AMSTERDAM — A mosque was gutted by an arson attack in the west of Rotterdam in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police have said the inside of the Shaan-e-Islam prayer room in a warehouse on the Aleidisstraat has been destroyed.
The mosque is linked to the Dutch Muslim association NMA and is mainly frequented by members of the Surinamese community.
Several slogans were clearly visible on the outside walls of the building in news footage of the building on Wednesday morning. The message in one of the slogans read: “geen moskee in Zuid” (no mosque in south). Another was the word “Lonsdale” along with a cross in a circle, a far-right symbol.
Some Dutch right-wingers, particularly teenagers with fascist sympathises, have a preference for clothing made by the Lonsdale clothing company in the UK because the middle letters of the brand name — nsda — call to mind Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, NSDAP.
Another slogan “Theo R.I.P.” which was daubed on the wall of the mosque is a reference to filmmaker and Muslim critic Theo van Gogh.