Romania: Elie Wiesel’s childhood home vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti

Via JTA:

Unidentified individuals spray painted offensive graffiti on the external walls of a museum for Elie Wiesel in Romania, where he was also born, in what police said was an anti-Semitic incident.

The florescent pink graffiti that was painted on the Memorial House Elie Wiesel in Sighet in eastern Romania read “public toilet” and “Nazi Jew lying in hell with Hitler” as well as “Anti-Semite pedophile.”

Wiesel was one of the world’s most famous Holocaust survivors before he passed away in 2016 at the age of 87. A Nobel prize laureate for literature, he was honored last year by locals in his hometown. They marched from the museum, which was built where Wiesel was born and grew up, to the train station where in 1944 he boarded with his family a train to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland.

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Booking.com amends “Jerusalem as Israeli settlement” after inquiry from Joods Actueel

Via Joods Actueel:

Internet travel giant booking.com this week amended its policy of referring to Jerusalem as being an “Israeli settlement” after questions from the Belgian Jewish magazine Joods Actueel. Michael Freilich, editor-in-chief of Joods Actueel, received a complaint from one of his readers about the subject.

“The person was looking for a hotel room in Jerusalem and was shocked to discover that Jerusalem was classified as being an “Israeli settlement”. Honestly, I thought it was a hoax until I checked it out myself and saw it with my own eyes.”

The mention of Jerusalem as a settlement appeared throughout the website in all of it’s different languages: Dutch, French, English, Spanish and so on.

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Germany: Antisemitic grafitti in Hamburg

Via Watch Anti-Semitism in Europe:

Several anti-semitic graffiti were found in Hamburg such as "Gas the Jews":

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Greece: Jewish cemetery memorial in Thessaloniki vandalized

Via Watch Antisemitism in Europe:

A monument on the campus of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University (AUT) which commemorates a Jewish cemetery destroyed by the Nazis was targeted by vandals on Tuesday, the second time in two weeks.

The perpetrators daubed blue paint and painted a cross on the monument.

“Today, unknown individuals vandalized the monument to the [old] Jewish cemetery on the university campus. We restored the monument and we condemn the unacceptable action,” the university said in a press release, adding that “the solution to religious fanaticism and bigotry” is education.

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Switzerland: Knife-wielding man attacks Jewish family in Zurich

Via Arutz Sheva:

An Orthodox Jewish family was attacked by a man carrying a knife in Zurich, Switzerland over the weekend, local news outlets have reported.  

According to a report by the Zurich-based Blick newspaper, the incident occurred Saturday evening in Zurich’s 3rd district, when a man carrying a knife lunged at an Orthodox Jewish family. When his would-be victims fled, the attacker chased after them, hurling anti-Semitic curses as he pursued them.

The attacker was later arrested and transferred for questioning, Zurich police said.

A report by LOOK claimed that the incident began in a playground, when the attacker began staring at a group of children.

When the children’s father, approached the man and asked if he needed any help, the “guy reacted very aggressively and stood up in front of me,” the father said.

“I didn’t want any trouble, so I took my kids and left.”

The Jewish man and his family returned home, believing that was the end of the matter.

When they stepped out half an hour later, however, to go to synagogue, the man was waiting for them, carrying a knife.

The family attempted to quickly walk away from the man carrying the knife, but the attacker “suddenly started sprinting towards us,” the father said.

A passerby, who is also a member of the local Jewish community, later managed to subdue the attacker until police came.

The assailant has been identified as a “local man”, who police say is neither a radical Muslim nor a known member of any neo-Nazi movement.

Police held the suspect overnight, but freed him on Sunday.

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Holland: Swastikas daubed on wall of Jewish cemetery in Amsterdam

Via European Jewish Press:

The outer wall of a Jewish cemetery in Amsterdam was daubed with swastikas last Saturday. Dutch police reported that a suspect has been arrested.

In addition to the swastika, letters were found on the wall. For the time being, it is unknown what these should mean. As soon as the daubing was noticed, the graffiti was removed. Nothing is known yet about the motive of the perpetrator.

The Zeeburg cemetery is the final resting place where some 80 percent of the Amsterdam Jews were buried between 1714 and 1914. Some 100,000 people are believed to be buried, making it the largest Jewish cemetery in the Netherlands.

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Greece: Holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki vandalized

Via Ekathimerini:

Vandals threw black paint on the Holocaust Memorial in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Wednesday night, bespoiling the bronze sculpture that depicts a menorah with human bodies intertwined into its flames.

Authorities believe that the vandals may have been participants in a rally held earlier outside the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry to protest the name deal signed between Athens and Skopje.

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UK: Police probe three vandalism incidents at Manchester Jewish cemetery

Via Jewish News:

Vandalism at Urmston Jewish Cemetery Credit: @Joanne13Harding on Twitter

Police are investigating three separate incidents of vandalism at a Jewish cemetery in Manchester, with the most recent causing “thousands of pounds worth of damage”.

More than 30 headstones were pushed over at Urmston Jewish Cemetery in Manchester on Sunday, following two other reports of criminal damage at the site on 7 and 14 May.

Greater Manchester Police said they are investigating the separate incidents and “the spates of vandalism are being treated as hate incidents”, but no arrests have been made.

The police are investigating CCTV footage to identify offenders and patrols in the area have been increased.

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UK: Jewish student center serving the University of Oxford was subject to two attacks this month

Via The Algemeiner:

A Jewish student center serving the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom was subject to two attacks this month, drawing condemnation from community leaders.

On May 19, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, two unidentified offenders placed “antisemitic” notes and sparked a fire at the Chabad of Oxford, Thames Valley Police said.

“Thankfully the fire burned out within a couple of minutes, it didn’t cause significant damage and no-one was injured,” said Detective Sergeant George Atkinson of the incident, which was classified as a hate crime.

Four days later, a white powder and offensive notes — one reading “Jew House” — were found at the center. The substance was later identified as talcum powder.

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Holland: Holocaust monument smeared with bood, mud

Via Jewish Press:

A Holocaust monument in the Netherlands was smeared with blood and mud last week, shortly after the nation honored its war victim on May 4, Netherlands’ Memorial Day.

Police said they didn’t know how the filth was applied to the monument, which was unveiled in 2015 and which is engraved with the names of 1,239 Jews who were shipped to their deaths from the city, Utrecht.

In addition to the anti-Semitic vandalism at the monument, there were a number of other incidents as well around the same time, including “Nazi-like posters” hung up at the Groen Links office.

The type of blood used was unknown, according to the report, published Wednesday by RTV Utrecht, which did not provide details on the desecration. The monument is allegedly to be cleaned by the end of this week.

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Greece: Repeated anti-Semitic attacks

Desecration of Jewish graves in Greece stuns community

Via World Jewish Congress:

The World Jewish Congress stands with the Jewish Community of Athens in condemning repeated anti-Semitic attacks, and its initiative to organize a silent protest at the site of a recently desecrated Jewish cemetery this Sunday in the presence of government officials and public figures. The WJC will participate in the protest, which is backed by the WJC’s local affiliate the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, and has launched in parallel a social media campaign to raise awareness of the anti-Semitic manifestations ongoing in Greece, urging people worldwide to join in support.

“The World Jewish Congress abhors the despicable and cowardly act of desecrating Jewish property and stands firmly with the local Jewish community in urging individuals, organizations, and public authorities to mobilize in any way possible to make it absolutely clear that there is no room for anti-Semitism in Greek society,” said WJC CEO Robert Singer. "It is inconceivable that still today, anti-Semitic stereotypes are rife in Greece. We cannot stand by in silence as hatred continues unhindered.”

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German newspaper’s Israeli flag test yields ‘frightening results’

Via The Algemeiner:

As Germans continue to probe the connection between antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of recent antisemitic incidents across the country, a leading newspaper on Monday carried out a live experiment to determine how long an Israeli flag could be displayed in major urban thoroughfares before being removed. Israeli flags hung in three locations by reporters from the Bild newspaper were removed within ninety minutes by individuals who happened to be passing by, video revealed.

“The results are frightening,” the newspaper reported. “At the Hermannplatz in Berlin-Neukölln, the Israel flag flew for 42 minutes, for 61 minutes in Munich’s Bahnhofsviertel, and for 81 minutes in the center of Frankfurt.”

Video shot in Munich caught two men walking past an Israeli flag draped over a bicycle railing. Moments later, the men returned and angrily tore the flag down. Meanwhile in Berlin, two youths were filmed at the entrance to a rail station ripping the flag and throwing it to the ground, before one of them tried – and failed – to set it on fire with a cigarette lighter.

German politicians from across the spectrum interviewed by Bild were unanimous in their condemnation of the flag removals.

“The tearing down of the Israeli flag is something we will not tolerate in Germany,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the paper. “We will clearly stand against any form of antisemitism.” His colleague Horst Seehofer, the Interior Minister, pledged to show “zero tolerance” for antisemitic displays.

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France: Primary school tagged with swastika in Paris

Via I 24 News:

"Stinking Jew" and swastika 

An antisemitic tag was painted on a Jewish primary school located in the affluent 16th arrondissement of Paris.

France: 85-year-old Jewish woman, Holocaust survivor, found dead in her apartment, her body stabbed and burnt

Via JTA:

A 85-year-old Jewish woman was found dead, her body burnt and stabbed eleven times, in her apartment in the 11th district of Paris on Friday. She was identified by the French media only as Mireille K, the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA) reported.

The victim is a Shoah survivor. The woman reported in the past to authorities about a man from the same street whom she said had threatened to “burn her.”

A forensic examination of the apartment showed that an arsonist started a fire in at least five distinct areas of that space, the report also said.  

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Netherlands: Amsterdam Kosher restaurant vandalized again

Via NL Times:

Kosher restaurant Ha Carmel on Amstelveenseweg in Amsterdam was again vandalized. The restaurant owners arrived on Friday morning to find a massive star of cracks on one of the windows. The police believe something was thrown at it, Het Parool reports. The police are currently doing a forensic investigation at the restaurant.

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AT5

France: Acid placed in stroller burns rabbi’s baby

Via JTA:

The baby daughter of a French rabbi was burned after being exposed to acid placed in her carriage.

The 14-month-old girl suffered burns on her back and thighs Monday in the city of Bron, near Lyon, Le Parisien daily reported Wednesday. The baby is not in danger, according to the report.

The acid had been placed inside a carriage that the baby’s grandmother had parked in a communal space inside her apartment building overnight from Sunday to Monday. The grandmother rushed the baby to the hospital after noticing a severe irritation on the baby’s skin after taking her for a walk in the stroller and then bringing her inside.

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Spain: Anti-Semitic graffiti spray painted on Barcelona synagogue

Via JTA:

"Get out of our country"

Anti-Semitic graffiti was spray painted on the walls of a synagogue in Barcelona. The word “pigs” was written in English followed by a sentence in the Spanish-Latin hybrid language Catalan reading “Get out of the country,” according to local reports.

The graffiti discovered on Wednesday was ordered erased by Barcelona Deputy Mayor Gerardo Pisarello, who called for an investigation into the incident. (...)

The synagogue is no longer in daily use, according to reports. It serves as a cultural center and a museum and as a site to host community events. 

"Pigs"

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Holland: Synagogue and Jewish hospice targeted in vandalism incidents

Via JTA:

Police in the Netherlands are investigating vandalism at a synagogue and a hospice for people dying of terminal diseases.

The incident at the Immanuel Hospice occurred on Jan. 2, the AT5 television channel reported Wednesday. A man wearing a sports jacket dislodged and stole two security cameras in the early hours of the morning.

The synagogue incident occurred on Dec. 31 at Chabad Central Amsterdam, the Nieuw Israëlietisch Weekblad newspaper reported Friday. Unidentified individuals hurled bricks at one of the building’s windows in what a police spokesman told the weekly was an incident “with all the signs of a deliberate attack against a Jewish institution.”

The incidents follow the Dec. 7 shattering of glass at a kosher restaurant in Amsterdam by a Syrian man who was waving a Palestinian flag as two police officers and passers-by watched. The officers arrested the man after he broke into the restaurant through the door he had smashed and removed an Israeli flag.

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France: Girl’s face cut near Paris in suspected anti-Semitic assault

Via Times of Israel:

Days after the suspected torching of two kosher shops near Paris, a Jewish teenager had her faced slashed by an unidentified assailant on a street in the suburb of Sarcelles.

François Pupponi, a lawmaker in the lower house of France’s parliament and a former mayor of Sarcelles, on Friday called the assault Wednesday on the 15-year-old alleged victim, who complained to police, “a heinous anti-Semitic attack.”

The alleged victim was wearing the uniform of her private Jewish school, Merkaz-Hatorah, when the attack happened during lunch break Wednesday. She was able to walk home and arrived bleeding and “shocked,” her mother told Le Parisien.

The assailant ran away immediately after the assault, the alleged victim said. She did not see his face. The assailant did not say anything before, during or immediately after the assault.

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France: Kosher store target of suspected arson after being hit by anti-Semitic graffiti

Via I 24 News:

Fire comes on third anniversary of 2015 attack at a kosher supermarket by jihadist gunman

A suspected arson attack on a French kosher grocery store revived fears over anti-Semitism on Wednesday, three years to the day since an assault on a Jewish supermarket by an Islamist gunman.

Prosecutors said the store in the southern Paris suburb of Creteil had caught fire overnight, days after it was hit by anti-Semitic graffiti.

Investigators do not believe the blaze was accidental. The Promo & Destock store was one of two neighboring kosher shops in Creteil that were daubed with swastikas last Wednesday.

"The shop has been ravaged, devastated by the flames, there is nothing left,” the President of the Creteil Jewish community Albert Elharrar told i24NEWS on Tuesday, adding that the community is doing its best to “keep hope and to be vigilant.” The suspected arson sparked outrage on social media, with Israel’s Ambassador to France quickly condemning the attack as a "shameful provocation" which “proves the importance of continuing the fight against anti-Semitism.”

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