Nine Arabs were arrested and four were expelled from Holland during the High Holy Days period, apparently on suspicion that they were planning terrorist acts against Jewish institutions although no charges were brought against them.
The round-ups began after Jewish volunteers detained two Arabs with Egyptian passports loitering outside a Rotterdam synagogue during Rosh Hashanah services and handed them over to police. The men were found to have arrived from Vienna six days earlier on visas valid for seven days. They were unable to explain what they were doing outside the synagogue but a map of Rotterdam found in their possession had the synagogue marked on it.
Police found neither firearms nor explosives among their belongings but inasmuch as the men had insufficient money to stay in Holland, they were placed aboard a flight to Cairo. On the following day, another Arab was arrested in Rotterdam but was released because he possessed a valid permit to stay in the country. At about the same time, five Egyptians were arrested in a Rotterdam suburb and two were expelled from the country. No reasons were given for the arrests and expulsions.
Even before the Rotterdam incident, many Jewish congregations organized their own security services but also asked local mayors to make special police protection available on Yom Kippur. These requests were complied with. On Yom Kippur, synagogues in 26 localities throughout The Netherlands were placed under special police surveillance.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
