Germany: Authorities say synagogue attack is not antisemitism

Via The Jerusalem Post (Benjamin Weinthal):

German police in the city of Ulm - Albert Einstein's birthplace - say they have no indication that a man who damaged a synagogue on separate occasions in August and in early September was motivated by antisemitism, sparking criticism on Tuesday from international human rights organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The newspaper reported on September 4 that a man kicked a hole in the wall of the Ulm synagogue, causing between $3586 and $4782 in damages. The suspect, who was with six young men and has not been caught, smashed his foot against the synagogue earlier in the night and returned later for a second attack that severely damaged the wall. 

Rabbi Shneur Trebnik from the Ulm synagogue told the paper the attack is nothing new "but in this way it is the first time" the building suffered heavy damage. The rabbi said bottles have been tossed at the synagogue in the past but the damage was not as serious as the recent attack.

On August 26, a man demolished the facade of the synagogue wall with a metal post. The police believe the same man conducted both the August and September attacks. The police posted photographs of the man who has a full beard.

According to the Augsburger Allgemeine paper, "the authorities have at this time no indication of an antisemitic background" to the attacks. 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, told the Jerusalem Post that "once again it appears we have a situation of denial of antisemitism by important authorities in Germany. First, it was the judicial system that denied that throwing molotov cocktails at synagogue in Wuppertal constituted an antisemitic attack. Now, it appears that the local authorities led by the police in Ulm refuse to treat attacks on a synagogue as antisemitism. Such outrageous attitudes and decisions constitute a threat to the safety of every in Jew in Germany and every Jewish institution."

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