Dutch Muslims and Christians urged an end to a cycle of retaliatory vandalism of mosques and churches yesterday as van Gogh was cremated, a week after his slaying.
In a memorial service shown live on television, friends and family told stories about Van Gogh's playful nature and his love of provoking debate.
About 150 people gathered at De Nieuwe Ooster Crematorium. Hundreds more watched on a screen outside. Mourners left flowers, cigarettes, and beer at a makeshift memorial where the 47-year-old filmmaker, a relative of Vincent Van Gogh, was killed.
"Our country is confused and grieving," said Bram Peper, a former mayor of Rotterdam, calling Van Gogh's slaying an attempt to silence "the power of the word."
Van Gogh, a master of irony, was cremated to the music of the Lou Reed song "Perfect Day." He leaves his parents, former wife, and 12-year-old son.
"He had a big mouth, but everybody liked it because he was one of a few people who said what he thought," mourner Hans Debrichy said.
The Netherlands has been tense following his death, with attacks on both mosques and churches. Molotov cocktails caused minor damage at churches in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Amersfoort on Monday night following a half-dozen similar attacks at Muslim buildings, including a bombing at an Islamic school before dawn Monday. No injuries were reported.
Van Gogh, who received death threats for his film "Submission," which criticized the treatment of women under Islam, was shot and stabbed while bicycling on a busy Amsterdam street. The killer cut his throat and -- in a note impaled on Van Gogh's chest -- threatened more attacks in the name of radical Islam.
Mainstream Muslim groups condemned the killing and asked the government to protect mosques after the explosion at the Muslim school in Eindhoven on Monday.
Jan-Gerd Heetderks, dean of the Netherlands' Protestant churches, said "the violence, the aggression must stop. And that goes for people who get the idea that they should damage Muslim mosques or schools, too."
Van Gogh's killing, and the violent response, has shocked many in the Netherlands who prided themselves on being part of what they considered a peaceful and open society.
