Officially, we don’t yet know the cause of a massive fire that destroyed a 150-year-old Amsterdam church in the wee hours of New Year’s Day. Vondelkerk has been described as “a cultural monument,” and while there were no human casualties, the continued damage to European culture has been done.
One church after another burns, and given the irreplaceability of what these buildings represent, a piece of European identity disappears in the smoke.
As they say, timing is everything, so we are left to suspect foul play when such a historic building that represents Christian and Western culture burns down on one of the most major holidays on the calendar. When things like this happen, it’s not out of bounds to see the fire as someone seeking to send a message.
The fire at the church erupted approximately 45 minutes after the arrival of 2026. From its initial discovery, it seems it wasn’t containable. It was a bonfire. First, the roof collapsed, and then the church’s tower, and for those watching, it was impossible for them not to see the literal and the symbolic at once. Europe is falling.
Historic Vondelkerk Church in Amsterdam gone as the War on the West rages.pic.twitter.com/Ol8ch1vYsh
— Catholic Frequency (@CatholicFQ) January 1, 2026
It took until 11 a.m. for the fire departments to bring the fire under control. It seems that everything except for the ancient church walls has been lost.
Authorities cautioned that an investigation of the blaze will take weeks. They made no promises of transparency, and they gave no hints of what or who they suspect caused the fire.
The New York Times, in its never-ending mission to take the heat off of leftists, communists, and militant Islam, said, “The blaze occurred during New Year’s celebrations, and there had been many fireworks in the area, spurring speculation online that they could have caused the disaster.”
Yeah, that’s it. Let’s go with that. Let’s pretend you’re not dancing around the possibility that a radical Islamist didn’t burn this church down. Of course, I’m not saying that this is the confirmed cause, but in the universe of potential causes, if you’re going to mention one, then mention the other or others, and then pursue them.
“Fireworks violence,” yeah, let’s call it that. The Times is already on this emergent issue as it reports, “The fire came amid a push to stop at-home firework displays across the Netherlands. Fireworks are already banned in Amsterdam and other major cities, and sales will be banned across the country starting in 2026.”
Vondelkerk was built in the 1870s. While it was a Catholic church for a long time, it has had more secular uses in recent years. In the 1970s, it was repurposed as a venue for cultural events. It was reported that Pierre Cuypers, a Dutch architect behind the country’s Rijksmuseum and Central Station, is the one who designed the church.
The BBC reported portions of the story and facts that the Times conveniently omitted – information that provides critical context.
🚨 CHAOS IN THE NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱: New Year’s Eve turns into a WARZONE as massive fireworks RIOTS kill at least 2 people, injure hundreds, and DESTROY iconic 19th-century Vondelkerk church in Amsterdam!
Thugs launch heavy fireworks directly at police in cities nationwide –… https://t.co/muyDfNSAHp pic.twitter.com/rh2tOOCaua
— Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) January 1, 2026
“Police in the Netherlands were pelted with fireworks and faced an ‘unprecedented amount of violence’ on New Year’s Eve, officers have said,” according to the BBC.
“The head of the Dutch Police Union, Nine Kooiman, said she had been pelted by fireworks and other explosives on her shift in Amsterdam. The amount of violence was ‘unprecedented,’” the BBC reported.
The violence against police and property wasn’t confined to Amsterdam. The BBC reported that attacks against police and firefighters “were widespread across the country.”
“Petrol bombs” were lobbed at police in other cities. Hospital emergency rooms were filling up due to fireworks injuries, and two people were killed in fireworks-related incidents, the news organization said.
Keep in mind, these aren’t just accidents. It’s not an accident when people throw homemade explosives at police. It’s not like someone was just shooting off some firecrackers, and they happened to land on the roof of a huge church building.
Neither the Times nor the BBC is reporting what you can see here. The people behind the “fireworks” are Islamist “asylum seekers,” and they’re not aiming those fireworks at the sky.
🚨 CHAOS IN THE NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱: New Year’s Eve turns into a WARZONE as massive fireworks RIOTS kill at least 2 people, injure hundreds, and DESTROY iconic 19th-century Vondelkerk church in Amsterdam!
Thugs launch heavy fireworks directly at police in cities nationwide –… https://t.co/muyDfNSAHp pic.twitter.com/rh2tOOCaua
— Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) January 1, 2026
As long as the news media can’t even bring itself to say what we can all see, Europe will continue to fall until it, like Vondelkerk, is no more.
Meanwhile, Freedom Fighters Rise in Iran
Our own Catherine Salgado shed light on another, more encouraging development out of Iran. It seems that the Iranian people have had enough of the oppressive Islamic regime that has run the country with an iron fist since 1979.
“Footage of the Iranian protests is going viral on X, even though many Western journalists and outlets are trying to ignore them. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the key player in orchestrating violent military resistance to and jihad against Israel and the United States, is also currently busy firing upon its own people,” Catherine reported.
This happens from time to time in Iran, and every time it’s happened before, the regime has squashed the revolt, and a huge number of dead bodies followed.
But this time it feels different. The people know the history. They know the risks they are taking, and still, they are defying the death cult that runs the country.
If 2026 is the year the Islamist regime in Iran finally falls, it will be because of the courage of its people.
Wishing the protesters taking to the streets today strength and safety.
Happy New Year.
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) December 31, 2025
They are doing it peacefully.
It’s time to stand with the people of Iran who are fighting for their freedom✌🏻
So where is Greta?
Where are the flotilla activists?
Where are the self-righteous liberals who have spent the past two years condemning Israel on the streets of London, Stockholm, and New York?
Where… pic.twitter.com/Fn6rvAPPg0— Daniel Schatz (@drdanielschatz) January 1, 2026
They are doing it with the only weapons they have, their bare hands and their voices.
BREAKING: Iranians are bravely fighting against the barbaric Islamic regime in Iran, risking their lives.
Israel and the entire free world stand with you.pic.twitter.com/k4Cm0RzrbI
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) January 1, 2026
Since this has happened before and the Iranian regime has survived and then crushed any resistance, President Donald Trump has been careful not to give all-out support to regime change just yet.
When reporters asked about the Iranian uprising a few days ago, he said, “I’m not going to talk about overthrow of a regime…They’ve got a lot of problems. They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust. And I know that people aren’t so happy.” Trump added, “There’s tremendous discontent. They form 100,000, 200,000 people. All of a sudden, people start getting shot, and that group disbands pretty quickly.”
This is true. It’s wise for America to wait and see on this one, as tragic as some of the stories are and will be coming out of Iran in the coming days and weeks. That doesn’t mean the West and Israel aren’t working behind the scenes to support the Iranian freedom fighters. God knows, they deserve to be freed from oppressive Islamic rule.
But what may be different this time around is something that’s missing – fear. It seems the Iranian people no longer fear the regime that has oppressed them for almost 50 years. They are willing to make whatever personal and human sacrifices are necessary to rid the country of its current rulers.
Who knows? 2026 could be the year that ushers in freedom to the Iranian people, while Europe continues its pattern of surrender to undocumented and ungrateful invaders it welcomed with open arms. Invaders who reward Europe’s suicidal empathy with its just deserts.
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