It Isn’t About Land….Its About Hatred Of Jews
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CHICAGO
Chicago synagogues vandalized
(JTA) — At least three Chicago-area synagogues were vandalized following rallies in support of and against Israel.
The synagogues were defaced early Saturday morning by two vandals who smashed windows and doors with rocks and bricks and sprayed pro-Palestinian graffiti on the buildings. The men were captured on a video surveillance camera at one synagogue and were seen by a caretaker fleeing the scene at a second synagogue.
Some of the graffiti read “Death to Israel and “Free Palestine,” according to local reports.
Police believe that the incidents could be related and are currently being investigated as hate crimes by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, according to the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for North American Jewish institutions. The Chicago Tribune has reported that a fourth synagogue, in the suburb of Lincolnwood, was also vandalized.
The vandalism incidents, and an attempt late Friday afternoon by four unknown men in Chicago to enter a Jewish federation building, followed a Jewish communal rally Friday in support of Israel and a pro-Palestinian rally later in the day.
A week ago, a Chicago Jewish day school received a bomb threat in the mail that was also directed at other Jewish schools and institutions.
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ROME
Outrage over proposal to boycott Jewish-owned shops
Jewish leaders in Rome today expressed outrage over a trades union proposal to “identify and boycott” Jewish-owned shops in the Italian capital amid fears of a resurgence of anti-Semitism linked to Israeli actions in Gaza, .
Jewish leaders said the proposal, put forward by Giancarlo Desiderati, leader of the Flaica-Uniti-Cub union, which represents 8,000 shop assistants in Rome, was reminiscent of the anti-Semitic racial laws adopted 70 years ago by the Fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini in imitation of Nazi Germany, under which only “Aryan” shops were allowed to trade.
Asked if he was aware of the comparison, Mr Desiderati said: “We know we will have everyone against us, but we cannot pass over in silence what is happening in Gaza”.
He said his union had already urged its members to boycott Israeli products, and boycotting Jewish-owned or Jewish-run stores was a logical next step.
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South Africa
Remove rabbi from religious forum, Muslims say
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (JTA) — A South African Muslim group wants the country’s chief rabbi removed from a religious leaders’ forum over the Gaza incursion.
The South African Muslim Judicial Council is questioning whether South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein should continue to be a member of the prestigious National Religious Leaders’ Forum comprising clerics from all the major faiths.
This follows a hot debate on a talk radio station last week between Goldstein, who plays a key role in the organization, and Muslim theologian Moulana Ebrahim Bham, in which Goldstein said the war in Gaza is one of self-defense and that the South African Jewish community “passionately” believes Israel is the victim and is conducting itself “in a manner which is a just and legal war” into which it was forced against its will.
Council spokesman Nabeweya Malick said his organization was questioning Goldstein’s position and “whether he holds the necessary moral and ethical authority to be part of this noble forum.”
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The Muslim council spokesman said the chief rabbi’s statements have given justification for continued military action and did not mention a call for a cease-fire. “Speaking as a rabbi, where is his compassion? The forum is for all religious leaders to maintain some kind of sane moral position,” he said.
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FRANCE
Synagogue, Jewish building attacked in France
PARIS (JTA) — Molotov cocktails were launched at a synagogue in suburban Paris and at a Jewish community building near Strasbourg.
Sunday’s firebombing near the synagogue in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis also partly burned a Jewish restaurant.
No injuries were reported in either attack.
The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism blamed the mayor of Saint-Denis, a member of the Communist Party, for the attack, which came after the city called for a pro-Palestinian protest on Jan. 8, and a pro-Palestinian rally on Jan. 10 in Paris featuring 30,000 demonstrators turned violent.
“What we feared has arrived,” the bureau’s president, Sammy Ghozlan, told reporters.
The bureau had demanded that police prevent Mayor Didier Paillard’s anti-Israel rally, which “risked provoking … and inciting hate” of Jews, Ghozlan said in a statement, but his calls went unheeded.
Paillard said Monday that the bureau’s accusation was an “unacceptable manipulation,” and the city organized a peaceful gathering in front of the synagogue for Monday night.
French politicians overwhelmingly condemned both attacks, which come as similar crime increases in tandem with virulent anti-Israel rallies across the nation.
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