North London synagogue attacked
Jewish Chronicle | 30.04.2002 19:58
Jewish leaders are seeing the desecration of a Noth London synagogue as a sign that a European anti-Semitic wave has crossed the Channel and is affecting Britain.
A swastika was scrawled on the rabbi's lectern at Finsbury Park Synagogue, and talitot and kipot were spread over the floor and Sifrei Torah were desecrated. The attackers also defecated in the synagogue's entrance.
Jeremy Newmark, the official spokesman for the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, said: "This is the first incident in the country that resembles what's happening on the Continent. In terms of desecration, this is one of the most disturbing attacks we have seen."
The vandals forced their way into the synagogue late on Saturday night. They smashed at least 20 windows and ransacked the building, tossing personal possessions to the ground.
A can of green paint was thrown at the Ark, where the sacred Torah, or biblical scrolls, are kept, and the floor was strewn with sand. The Israeli flag, stamped on and covered in paint, lay on the floor yesterday beneath a pile of talitot and ripped sidurim.
The rabbi's talit and holy books were desecrated. Some members of the Jewish community blame radical Muslims for the attack, while others blame far-right extremists. The man regarded by many as Britain's most militant Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, was banned last week from preaching at his local mosque in Finsbury Park, just a short distance away.
Police are understood to have ruled out robbery as a motive, since the synagogue's silverware was not stolen but scattered across the floor. "We will act swiftly and decisively against those who carried this out," said a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police.
The Community Security Trust, in charge of protecting British Jewry from violence and intimidation, said: "The scale and wantonness of the damage and the inclusion of the swastika shows the malicious intent of those who did this."
A swastika was scrawled on the rabbi's lectern at Finsbury Park Synagogue, and talitot and kipot were spread over the floor and Sifrei Torah were desecrated. The attackers also defecated in the synagogue's entrance.
Jeremy Newmark, the official spokesman for the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, said: "This is the first incident in the country that resembles what's happening on the Continent. In terms of desecration, this is one of the most disturbing attacks we have seen."
The vandals forced their way into the synagogue late on Saturday night. They smashed at least 20 windows and ransacked the building, tossing personal possessions to the ground.
A can of green paint was thrown at the Ark, where the sacred Torah, or biblical scrolls, are kept, and the floor was strewn with sand. The Israeli flag, stamped on and covered in paint, lay on the floor yesterday beneath a pile of talitot and ripped sidurim.
The rabbi's talit and holy books were desecrated. Some members of the Jewish community blame radical Muslims for the attack, while others blame far-right extremists. The man regarded by many as Britain's most militant Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, was banned last week from preaching at his local mosque in Finsbury Park, just a short distance away.
Police are understood to have ruled out robbery as a motive, since the synagogue's silverware was not stolen but scattered across the floor. "We will act swiftly and decisively against those who carried this out," said a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police.
The Community Security Trust, in charge of protecting British Jewry from violence and intimidation, said: "The scale and wantonness of the damage and the inclusion of the swastika shows the malicious intent of those who did this."
Jewish Chronicle
Homepage:
http://www.jchron.co.uk/
Comments
Hide the following 16 comments
Bové: Mossad behind attacks on French synagog
30.04.2002 21:00
by Tehran Times 7:15pm Tue Apr 30 '02
A prominent French political activist has revealed that
the Israeli intelligence service Mossad has been behind
the recent attacks on the synagogues in France.
According to a report published by the UAE-based daily
"Al-Khalij" yesterday, the head of French Farmers Union,
Jose Bové, has said that in order to divert French
public attention from Israeli atrocities against
Palestinians, Mossad organizes an attack on a French
synagogue every day.
He said French citizens of Arab origin know very well that
attacks on holy sites of other religions will be harmful
to their legitimate cause and therefore will never engage
in such actions. But it is quite clear that only Israelis
benefit from such attacks.
Bové is best known for his dung protests against
McDonalds and more recently for participating in a
‘direct-action’ peace mission to Palestine.
Tehran Times
Inside Job
30.04.2002 21:32
Mos-Sad
Sounds like a fixed job
30.04.2002 21:43
Too ready.
Too branded.
A fixed job I would say.
Who would profit?
The Israelis and their "survival game".
(This comment was neither intended as an insult on the victims of the bombblasts nor as an option for discrediting
the jewish community)
Look at the political fingerprint
the neo nazi roaches
30.04.2002 22:17
aleida
Proof?
30.04.2002 22:18
D
we ignore the masacre
30.04.2002 22:21
perhaps the planer should ignore the UN resolution that vreated the zionist state.
israel "get the message", "all men are equal", you are not more equal than others
you are not the chosen or elite race. you are nazi's
1-5-2
!
30.04.2002 22:22
!
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/index.html
30.04.2002 22:56
Jenin cannot be hidden much longer. Graphic photos!
Photo
Impartial
30.04.2002 23:10
Dr. Death
You know who's to blame
01.05.2002 00:17
Well we dont really need a proper trial as everyone knows those pesky Jews must have commited huge massacres in Jenin.
Everyone knows that Jews cannot be victims because there always to blame.
That Israel place continues committing heinous crimes. The main crime is to seek to defend itself against the attempt to annihilate it. For this effrontery, a few of lies, distortions, libels, abandonment of objectivity and the substitution of malice and hatred for truth is justified if it helps the world to understand what 'we in the know' realise those Jews are up to.
Joe
e-mail:
josephhoward94@hotmail.com
'we in the know'
01.05.2002 00:26
Well we dont really need a proper trial as everyone knows those pesky Jews must have commited huge massacres in Jenin.
Everyone knows that Jews cannot be victims because there always to blame.
That Israel place continues committing heinous crimes. The main crime is to seek to defend itself against the attempt to annihilate it. For this effrontery, a few lies, distortions, libels, abandonment of objectivity and the substitution of malice and hatred for truth is justified if it helps the world to understand what 'we in the know' realise those Jews are up to.
MoJoe
Implied conclusion
01.05.2002 01:42
foobar
Implied conclusion
01.05.2002 01:42
foobar
fuck israel
01.05.2002 08:32
At the same time our polititicians done nothing whilst a masecre was taking place. This is why i'm angry with the system, and this is why im off to protest today. doing nothing whilst these crimes are taking place is as bad as committing the crime itself.
FUCK ALL REGILIOUS EXTREMIST'S OF EVERY FAITH. AND FUCK THE EXTREMIST STATE OF ISRAEL
FI
think it through!
02.05.2002 09:15
Who gains from a general atmosphere of fear, division and mutual suspicion?
Who's always looking for an excuse to scrawl swastikas on stuff?
internationalist
Homepage:
http://www.anl.org.uk
What are we formulating these opinions on?
11.07.2004 19:58
"The Israeli flag, stamped on and covered in paint"
As people have pointed out that swastikas are not the trademark of islamic extremists; I thought that the above quote should be taken into account - an attack on the State of Israel would suggest that this is the work of Islamic radicalism.
The injustice that many Palestinian women and children suffer is disgusting but we must not be biased against Israelis/Jews.
Next time we hear of a Muslim being attacked on grounds of their religion/race shall we presume it is a conspiracy?
Peace,
Wan.
Wan
Homepage:
http://sdiy