THE number of anti-Semitic attacks in London has risen sharply following Israel’s land assault on Gaza, Jewish community groups said today.
Their leaders have compiled a dossier of attacks against Jews which will be handed to seniors officers in the Metropolitan police.
The attacks include claims of:
An attempt to burn down a synagogue in north-west London.
An assault on a Jewish motorist who was pulled from his car and punched.
A gang of youths chanting anti-Semitic slogans as they tried to enter restaurants and shops in Golders Green.
The Community Security Trust, which is responsible for the safety of Jews in Britain, has also noted the emergence of anti-Semitic graffiti in Jewish areas across London. Slogans sprayed on walls include: “Kill Jews” and “Jews are scumbags.”
The trust has now logged 24 anti-Semitic incidents – most of them in London – in the past week. Police are said to be stepping up patrols in Jewish areas.
Mark Gardner, the trust’s spokesman, told the Standard: “There has been a significant rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents, especially when compared with what is usually a very quiet time of year for racist, anti-Jewish attacks.
“It is a pattern with which we and police are now sadly familiar, whereby hysteria is whipped up against Israel: and British Jews then suffer a wave of anti-Semitism.”
The arson attack on the synagogue in Brondesbury took place on Sunday night. The arsonists first tried to smash open a window but failed because of the toughened glass in place to protect such buildings from terrorist attacks.
Mr Gardner said: “Having been thwarted they then appear to have attempted to set the front door alight with petrol, causing some damage to the exterior of the premises. Police, CST and fire brigade attended the scene.”
On New Year’s Eve, a man was pulled from his car just as he was about to drive off and assaulted by three men whom he described as being of Arab appearance. The victim did not suffer any serious injury. The same night a gang of youths alarmed locals in Golders Green by trying to enter Jewish shops while chanting anti-Israeli slogans.
Joey Ben-Yoav, manager of nearby Met Su Yan, a kosher Chinese restaurant in Golders Green, said: “It was scary. They were waving flags and shouting. It felt like if we went out they would hit us or something.
“They walked past a few Jews and just shouted ‘Jew’ at them. They did not look like they were in the mood for making peace.”
Man claims to be willing to sacrifice himself to avenge the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. Related Articles Terrorist suspect arrested after 27 years EU urges next US president to cooperate Belgians urge EU to do more for Palestinians
The Jewish community in Antwerp has received about a dozen death threats over recent days. They appeared on the website of the monthly magazine Joods Actueel.
Joods Actueel, a monthly Jewish publication which also has a website, received death threats by an anonymous man claims to be willing to sacrifice himself to avenge the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.
He threatened a suicide attack: “You are not safe. I know where to find you. Child by child,” reads the menacing message with a slew of anti-Semitic slurs.
The editor-in-chief of Joods Actueel, Michael Freillich, was not planning to make the threats public at first. He changed his mind though after the arson attempt on the home of a Jewish family in Antwerp yesterday.
Attempted arson on a Jewish family house
Unknown persons shoved rags with lighter fluid through the mailbox of a Jewish family home and tried to light it. Luckily the fire did not catch on. The incident has been confirmed by the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office.
The perpetrators have not yet been identified, but the police are investigating clues. The Antwerp police are stepping up patrols in the Jewish neighbourhoods in Antwerp.
Jews and Muslims try to join hands calling for peace and calm
A Jew and a Moslim in Antwerp are joining hands, calling on their two communities to maintain the peace with each other.
Michael Freilich is editor in chief of a Joods Actueel. Hicham El Mzairh is Muslim and also a member of the Flemish liberal party.
The two men differ in their opinions on the conflict in the Middle East but they stress that protest here is not a solution. They held a joint press conference, both calling on their communities to restore peace and calm in Antwerp.
“What we both share is our concern as inhabitants of Antwerp. We think it’s not good to import the conflict here. Unrest here will not help the suffering of the people in a dramatic situation in Gaza,” says Hicham El Mzairh.
“Our first aim is show people that the Muslim community and the Jewish community co-exist peacefully here. We have a lot in common – we are all Flemish, we are all Antwerp inhabitants, on a lot of other issues too we have common ground – and it’s important to stress this,” says Michael Freilich.
Agitation and tension came to a head in Antwerp at the weekend
On Saturday nearly 100 youngsters were detained by the police for questioning.
They attempted to take part in an unauthorised demonstration in the heart of Antwerp. The demonstration was in protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
The necessary permission to hold the demonstration was not secured ahead of time.
Most of the demonstrators were youngsters of ethnic minorities. Two minors with Molotov cocktails were detained.
(lubavitch.com) On Saturday night, unknown perpetrators shoved rags with lighter fluid into the mailbox of a Chabad familys home in Antwerp, Belgium and lit them on fire. Luckily the fire did not catch on and the home sustained only minor smoke damage.
A family member told police they were awoken in the middle of the night by a burning smell and discovered the fire upon investigation. Police and fire teams responded immediately and promptly put out the blaze. The house, bearing a sign on the door with a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is clearly recognizable as Jewish, and with a frightening increasing in anti-Semitic event since the beginning of the Gaza war, members of the local Arab population of 40,000 remain prime suspects.
There is great concern over safety since the war started, said local Chabad Rabbi Shabtai Slavaticki whose outdoor menorah display was destroyed by vandals on the day the war started. We are weighing ways to increase security.
Rabbi Slavaticki told Lubavitch.com that Jewish schools in Antwerp have long employed Israeli trained security guards, but that synagogues are patrolled by local security services.
On Saturday nearly 100 youngsters were detained by the police for questioning after attempting to take part in an unauthorized demonstration in the heart of Antwerp against Israel.
They were screaming death for Jews and reports said many were armed with weapons, said Rabbi Slavaticki.
Source
Jewish News via SMS
——————-
Jewish Breaking News Blog via Twitter | Jewish Related Incidents
