June 22



BRITAIN:

Holocaust prayer books destroyed in surge of synagogue attacks


Arson attacks on two synagogues in north London which destroyed prayer
books rescued from the Holocaust have raised new fears of an upsurge in
anti-semitic violence.

The books, smuggled out of Germany and Poland just before the second world
war, were destroyed after vandals pushed burning material into the South
Tottenham United Synagogue on Thursday. A day later, a suspicious fire
caused more than 250,000 of damage to the synagogue and headquarters of a
Jewish educational group in Hendon.

Police said the two incidents were not linked, but members of the Jewish
community said they were increasingly apprehensive after the attacks, as a
steady rise in anti-semitic violence against people and property
continues.

More than 100 synagogues in Britain have been desecrated since September
2000. According to a study by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and
Xenophobia, 375 anti-semitic incidents were reported in Britain in 2003,
up from 350 in 2002. In the last quarter of 2003 there was a 39% increase
in incidents over the same period in 2002.

The afternoon attack on the South Tottenham synagogue destroyed prayer
books more than 100 years old, including signed editions smuggled out of
mainland Europe by refugees fleeing Kristallnacht in 1938.

In the fire at the UK headquarters of Aish HaTorah, a Jewish educational
charity, in Hendon, two handwritten Torah scrolls were torn and desecrated
and unique notes belonging to Rabbis were lost. Offices and the synagogue
suffered serious smoke damage in the fire, which was started at 11pm on
Friday.

Rabbi Naftali Schiff, the executive director of Aish UK, said: "Seeing
scrolls of the law torn and strewn on the floor of my own synagogue in
London was devastating. This mindless act of hatred and destruction rings
yet another warning bell across the country to men and women of reason,
tolerance and mutual respect to join together to ensure that the flames of
extremism and intolerance not be allowed to engulf these shores."

The Metropolitan Police said it was pursuing "a specific line of inquiry"
over the blaze in Hendon, but was keeping an open mind about whether the
incident was "racially aggravated". The fire at South Tottenham was also
being treated as suspicious but was not thought to be linked to the attack
in Hendon.

Lord Janner, the chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, visited the
synagogue in South Tottenham after the attack. He said: "We have not had
two attacks within a week on synagogues in living memory. It has a nasty,
dangerous smell about it.

"But we have to be careful not to leap to conclusions. The police are
doing a very thorough job and I hope they will come up with the answers
very soon."

(source: The Guardian)