AN ISLAMIC primary school in Eindhoven has been damaged by a bomb, while at least three mosques have been targeted by arson attacks. Others have been plastered with paint or anti-Islamic slogans. Police protection has been stepped up outside Islamic centres.

The Muslim community in the Netherlands is suffering a wave of attacks against its institutions after the murder in Amsterdam of the film-maker Theo van Gogh, whose work was critical of Islamic treatment of women.

The Tarieq Ibnu Zyad Islamic school, in the southern town of Eindhoven, had its front door blown off and sustained extensive damage after a bomb attack in the early hours of the morning. Debris was scattered around the neighbourhood, but no one was injured.

The school is run by alFourqaan Islamic Centre, which has been under observation by Dutch Intelligence after it was reported to have links to the September 11 hijackers, including Mohammed Atta, their leader.

Alexander Sakkers, Mayor of Eindhoven, said: “Residents of the area are shocked. We have to do everything possible to keep the community united. One person who pulls off such an idiotic act should not affect Dutch society.”

Also over the weekend, a social centre that helps Muslim immigrants in Amsterdam was daubed with red paint and mosques in Rotterdam, Groningen and Breda were damaged by arsonists, although none seriously.

In Huizen, police arrested two men who were said to be preparing to start a fire at a mosque on Friday night. A pig’s head was dumped outside a mosque in Amsterdam, while pamphlets insulting Islam and showing pictures of pigs’ heads were plastered on a mosque in Rotterdam.

Mr van Gogh, the great-great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent van Gogh, was shot six times and nearly decapitated with a butcher’s knife in central Amsterdam last week in what the media has described as a “ritual killing.” A five-page note of Koranic texts was pinned to his chest declaring jihad against infidels and the West.

Johan Remkes, the Dutch Interior Minister, said that the killing should not be blamed on the Muslim community.

Ten young Muslims have been arrested in connection with the killing, including Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality. He has been charged with the murder under anti-terrorism laws, making it the first official terrorist attack in the country in recent times.

Since Mr van Gogh’s murder, a number of politicians seen as being “enemies of Islam” have been issued with death threats. Two have been taken to safe houses, including Geert Wilders, the maverick right-wing MP, who was the subject of a video circulating on the internet offering paradise for anyone who beheaded him.

The Netherlands has almost a million Muslims, nearly 6 per cent of its population of 16 million. A recent poll showed that 47 per cent of non-Muslims said that they felt less tolerant of Muslims since Mr van Gogh’s murder. Last week more than two dozen demonstrators were arrested for shouting anti-Islamic abuse, while the books of condolences for Mr van Gogh had to be shut after they became deluged with anti-Muslim sentiment.

The Government declared a “war on radical Islam”, threatening to deport those suspected of extremist links. Belgium, where Mr van Gogh was also a household name, said yesterday that it would strengthen its anti-terror laws by allowing authorities to shut down anti-Semitic or anti-Western websites run by radical Muslim groups and to block extremist views aired on Arab community radio stations.

Mr van Gogh’s funeral is to be held this evening in Amsterdam, in a public service broadcast on screens in a park.

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