Dutch synagogue vandals apprehended

EJP: Dutch police last week managed to prevent an attempt to vandalize the former synagogue of Sliedrecht, a small town in the rural east of the Netherlands. On April 20, a neighbour noticed three young men dressed in black, their faces covered, behaving suspiciously in the vicinity of the synagogue. The neighbour alarmed the police, who subsequently came and apprehended the men described them as “skinheads” and likely members of an extreme-right organisation. The building has been the target of similar attempts in recent months, including an incident where stones were thrown through the windows of the monumental building. Only a few weeks ago the synagogue walls were daubed with swastikas. The swastikas had been removed just days before the most recent attempt to vandalize the building.