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20 masked men attack Gothenburg Synagogue with firebombs

A Jewish community in Gothenburg, Sweden, has been left in shock after around 20 masked men attacked their Synagogue yesterday night at around 10pm.

The Synagogue had been hosting a social event for Jewish students. When the Police arrived, the attendees had taken refuge in the Synagogue’s basement.

A spokesman for the local police said that “there are several molotov cocktails that have been thrown against the synagogue”. Thankfully, the building itself did not catch fire and nobody was seriously hurt.

Despite the shocking nature of the incident, the police do not seem to have any leads. In an online statement they commented that they “do not know much more than there are several molotov cocktails that have been thrown against the synagogue”.

Whilst the identity of the attackers is unknown, some have speculated that the attack could be linked to a march against Donald Trump’s policy on Jerusalem which took place earlier that day. Nonetheless, it could also easily be an attack from the far right.

Such an attack essentially amounts to terrorism against Jews in Europe. Unfortunately, with antisemitism reaching terrifying levels in some parts of Sweden, escalations of violence such as this are increasingly unsurprising. Thankfully the Synagogue was protected by its security staff who alerted the police and kept attendees safe, but this incident highlights the important of sufficient security being provided to Jewish communities.

 

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Canadian Jews express dismay as Imam calling for Allah to slaughter Jews and “give victory” to Jihadis faces no criminal charges

B’nai Brith Canada has expressed it shock following reports from Montreal police that Imams who allegedly made antisemitic comments, including allegedly inciting violence against Jews, would face no criminal charges.

B’nai Brith tweeted that it is “outraged that Quebec prosecutors have chosen not”, whilst adding that claims that too much time has elapsed since the alleged incident are “blatantly false”.

The complaints were made in respect of two sermons given by Wael al-Ghitawi and Sayed al-Ghitawi  at the Al-Andalous Islamic Centre in the St-Laurent borough of Montreal in 2014.

A video showed Sayed al-Ghitawi allegedly calling on Allah “to destroy the accursed Jews” and to “give victory to our brothers who engage in jihad in Palestine”, as well as calling for Jihadis to “kill them one by one” and “make their children orphans and their women widows”.

In the Mosque’s “clarification”, they stated that his his comments were referring merely to killing members of the IDF which they claimed was responsible for an ongoing “massacre” in the region.

The second complaint was made in respect of the Mosque’s Imam, Wael al-Ghitawi, who allegedly claimed that the Jews had no lineage to Ancient Israel and no claim on Modern day Israel. He allegedly describes Jews as having been cursed by Allah for having supposedly killed prophets and rejected Jesus.

B’nai Brith Canada have said that they “won’t accept” the lack of action by the police and are expected to challenge the disgraceful decision on the part of the police to abdicate their responsibility to bring antisemites to justice.

 

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Berlin Mayor refuses to stop fundraiser for Palestinian terrorists at Socialist Newspaper’s offices

According to the Berlin daily, Der Tagesspiegel, a fundraiser for the terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was held on July 11 in Berlin. The Mayor of Berlin, Michael Muller, who has been publicly accused of being soft on antisemitism and terrorism, ignited a firestorm for allowing the fundraiser to proceed.

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Director of Nazi War Crime Research, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Israel told the Jerusalem Post:”PFLP should be banned from staging events anywhere in the world.”

Zuroff also stated: “The Mayor should have said he found this offensive. The PFLP has murdered innocent civilians in many places.” The military wing of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, takes pride in launching Sumud rockets from the Gaza strip, which are aimed at the Israeli town of Sderot.

The Democratic Committee for Palestine reportedly held the fundraiser in the publishing house of the socialist newspaper, Neus Deutschland (New Germany).

The PFLP, who supports the destruction of Israel, is known for suicide bombings, plane hijackings, and targeted murders. And one of those tragic murders included the 2001 assassination of the Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Zee’evi.

But this is not the first fundraiser in Germany for the PFLP. At the University of Hamburg, a guest professor from South Africa, BDS supporter, Farid Esack, invited his “comrade”, the PFLP terrorist, Leila Khaled, to a fundraiser for the PFLP in 2015. Khaled is the world’s first female plane hijacker.

Not surprisingly, Esack’s actions were widely condemned. Dr. Efraim Zuroff, in an article in the Jerusalem Post said: “A person who is sponsoring an unrepentant terrorist is hardly a person who should be educating German students.” And Zuroff, who added that “BDS is antisemitism” certainly has the support of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, whose Christian Democratic party declared BDS to be antisemitic at a party congress in 2016.

But just like BDS, fundraisers for terrorists in Germany are not banned. However, making a Nazi salute is banned. And, on August 4, two unnamed male tourists from China found out about this law the hard way, when they were arrested by Berlin police for snapping cellphone photos of each other giving Nazi salutes, in front of the Reichstag, the seat of the lower house of the German Parliament.

Obviously, saluting Hitler is abhorrent behavior, and it is understandable why the German government, given the horrors of Germany’s past, are happy to set this limit on free speech, and punish those who celebrate, even symbolically, Hitler’s barbaric regime.

But reason also dictates that raising money for terrorists, so that they can buy weapons and kill innocent people, is clearly a greater threat to the 82 million people living in Germany than a raised arm.

However, given the tragic terrorist attacks that Germany has suffered, officials, to their credit, do not whitewash the potential terrorist threats that the country is still facing. The BfV, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, released its annual report in 2016. Tragically, the document reveals that Radical Islam is alive and well.

The numbers: There are 24,400 Islamists, 10,OOO Salafists, Sunni Muslims who believe that the German Constitution must be replaced by sharia law, and 10,000 members of the Turkish Islamist Milliu Gorus.

In addition, there are 680 potential Islamist threats influenced by Salafist ideology.

BvF also confirmed that hundreds of “jihadists” entered the country when one million migrants entered Germany during the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

According to Hans-Georg Maassen, who heads the BfV, “we must expect further attacks by individuals or terrorist groups.”

Maasen explained:”Islamist terrorism is the biggest challenge facing BfV and we see it as one of the biggest security threats facing the internal security of Germany”.

But there is progress. Maassen told reporters that Germany has “dramatically stepped up its efforts to combat Islamist militancy, with a record number of arrests, prosecutions, and departures over the past year”, Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizere told the press.

But that statement leads to this question: Since Germany’s commitment to defeat terrorism is beyond dispute, why is it legal to raise money for terrorists? And what does that mean for German Jews?.

The answer, which has existed for thousands of years is, of course, antisemitism. Daniel Killy told the Jerusalem Post that Germany’s Jews are faced with antisemitism that is caused by “a combination of extreme right wing forces, deteriorating security, and [Germany’s] welcoming of refugees brought up in cultures ‘steeped in hatred’ for Jews”.

Of the 118,000 Jews in Germany, 2,500 of them live in the city of Hamburg, where Killy is the leader of the Jewish community.

“We no longer feel safe here,” Killy stated.

All eyes on Germany.

 

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Police search for suspect who allegedly threatened to carry out mass shooting at Florida Synagogue

Police in Miame-Dade, Florida, have requested the public’s help in apprehending a suspect who allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a Synagogue.

The suspect has been identified as Steven H. Brooks.

Brooks allegedly threatened to shoot the members of the Synagogue with an Uzi.

Brooks has been given several warnings for trespass at the Synagogue previously, but nonetheless returned to the property.

Steven Rachminov of the police’s Specialized Protection and Security unit said that following the warnings, Brooks allegedly escalated his harassment to the point of posing a serious terrorist risk: “the information that I received was he basically put out an open threat to come back and basically spray the place down with an uzi. At that point, come on. You’re screaming ‘wolf’ to the highest level. Things need to be done”.

Despite such a serious threat allegedly being made, there is not currently a warrant for Brooks’s arrest, with the police first simply wanting to question him. Despite this, he has been described by police as “rabid” and members of the public have been warned not to approach him, a characterisation which makes the decision not to issue a warrant for his arrest seem bizarre.

Rabbi Eliezar Wolf, who is the Rabbi of the congregation, commented: “together with many other shuls and rabbis in the area, I am thankful to the MDPD for their support in protecting our communities. We are in close contact with a security firm we use … at the shul, as well the Greater Miami Jewish Federation“.

Anyone with information has been told to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS and may be eligible for a cash reward.

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Senior officials from USA’s largest Islamic charity exposed glorifying terrorism against Jews

Islamic Relief is the largest Muslim charity operating in the United States. Unfortunately, several senior officials have recently been exposed for having made antisemitic comments online which glorified violence against Jews.

Khaled Lamada, chairman of the charity’s US branch expressed support for the Muslim Brotherhood, the group with close links to antisemitic and genocidal terrorist organisation Hamas.

He also expressed support for the “Mujahidin of Egypt” for “causing the Jews many defeats”.

He has shared a video which claimed that Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is a Jewish agent seeking to corrupt Muslims by spreading promiscuity. According to the Definition of Antisemitism, “making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” is antisemitic.

Among other officials of the US branch of the charity is  Yousef Abdallah, who praised as “martyrs” terrorists who helped to “kill more than 20 Jews” and “fire rockets at Tel Aviv”.

Islamic Relief received $370,000 of US funding in 2016 alone, and is supported by the United Nations, despite repeated concerns being raised of its links to Hamas.

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Charlottesville police refused to protect Synagogue from Nazis, forcing worshippers to remove Torah scrolls, exit through rear as thugs paraded outside

As more stories emerge from the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally emerge, the picture of the antisemitism of the far right marchers and the threat posed to Jewish communities and other minorities becomes more harrowing.

Newsweek reported that police refused to provide a Synagogue which stands just a few metres from where a neo-Nazi allegedly killed a counter-protester in a car ramming attack.

Worshippers at the Synagogue could hear neo-Nazis shouting “Sieg Heil” as they marched by the Shul. Armed neo-Nazis allegedly stood opposite the Synagogue in an attempt to intimidate them.

Rabbi Alan Zimmerman said his “heart broke” as he told his congregation that it would be safer for them to leave through the back entrance of the Synagogue after the service. Speaking of the anxiety of having armed neo-Nazis in the vicinity, he said “had they tried to enter, I don’t know what I could have done to stop them, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them, either”.

The Synagogue was also the subject of arson threats ahead of the march, causing the Torah scrolls to be removed for safe-keeping.

The fact that Jews were so intimidated at their place of worship, having been neglected by the police despite the obvious risk to their safety, is an illustration of how out of control the far right has become in America. With the far right now planning new marches in Texas and elsewhere, greater scrutiny of police forces by American Jewish organisations will be necessary to ensure that such events do not repeat themselves or worse.

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Bondi council, Australia, bans construction of new Synagogue due to terrorism fears

A local council has banned the construction of a synagogue in Bondi, Australia. It was alleged that the place of worship could be a terrorist target. Jewish religious leaders have responded to the shock move, stating that the council has caved in to Islamic extremism and created a dangerous precedent.

The decision, which has left the longstanding resident Jewish population shocked, was upheld in court this week in light of the recent alleged airline terror threat.

The Land and Environment Court supported the decision by Waverly Council to prohibit the construction of the synagogue in Wellington St, Bondi, stating it was too much of a security risk for users and residents.

Jewish authorities are concerned with the implications of such a move, suggesting they cannot freely practice their religion because they are a target of Islamist extremists. The head of the local Jewish community said that the council and the court had stifled the freedom of religion and given in to the terrorists. “Its implications are enormous. It basically implies that no Jewish organisation should be allowed to exist in residential areas” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman told news.com.au.

The council pincered all potential negotiation in the design of the synagogue: stating that the security measures put forward in the proposed design were evidence in and of themselves that the site was too much of a security risk. To add insult to injury, the council also said that if the design was then changed to boost security, this would then be unacceptable because the construction would be too unsightly.

The courts made their decision on the following facts:

  • Western countries face a security threat, currently primarily from ISIS;
  • The threat level in Australia is “probable”;
  • Jewish communities across the world are no stranger to the threat of violence and as such will generally take security measures into account when planning, constructing or renovating buildings;
  • The CITED design considers “potential possible threats” that are relevant to Australia; and
  • The design measures focus on the person inside the buildings only.

Commissioner Graham Brown stated that the projects risk assessment was inadequate and upheld the council’s decision. A Waverley Council spokesperson noted the court had support the council’s position, which was supported by several residents’ concerns.

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French ultra-Nationalist arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate Macron wanted to kill “Blacks, Arabs, Jews and homosexuals”

Last week, an individual who described himself as a, “right-wing nationalist” was arrested on charges relating to an alleged planned assassination of President Emmanuel Macaron during the Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14th.

The suspect was reported convicted in 2016 of inciting terrorism.

RMC, a French radio station reported that the individual who is a resident of Argenteuil, a small town near to Paris was charged with terrorist offences. The individual in question was traced based on inflammatory comments made on an online chat he had participated in. The man described himself as a ‘nationalist’, and a proponent of extreme right ideology now commonly described as the “alt-right”.

In RMC’s report, it is stated that the detainee had used the online chat room to express his desire to obtain an AK 47. He was reported to the authorities by other online users. When the police arrived to arrest him, he allegedly threatened them with a knife.

The radio station further reported that during his interrogation, the detainee admitted to wanting to kill, “Blacks, Arabs, Jews and homosexuals” in a shocking confession of blatant racism and anti-Semitism. Police sources confirmed the radio’s statement, affirming that “His plot was vague, but he made it clear that he wanted to attack minorities.” It is speculated that the individual was inspired by previous mass shootings, such as the Columbine High School massacre, a tragic event which took place in 1999.

Allegedly the detainee described himself as “mentally unstable”, although this has yet to be confirmed by a medical body.

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Neo-Nazi finally faces trial, after 2 year delay, for threatening to massacre Jewish schoolchildren

David Lenio is finally being charged with allegedly threatening to massacre Jewish schoolchildren, after a delay of almost two years.

Lenio, a White Nationalist from Montana, is alleged to have said that he wishes to “execute 30 or more grade school students”, put “two in the head of a Rabbi or Jewish leader”, and said that the “USA needs a Hitler to rise to power”.

He is also alleged to have tweeted:

“I think every jew on the planet deserves to be killed for what kikes have done to our #dollar and cost of living Killing jews > wage #slave”

“I’m not even opposed to shooting up a random school like that sandy hoax stunt only realer, to voice my displeasure with being a wage slave”

“Let’s make national news, I david lenio know israel did 9/11 and I am so poor that I want to shoot up a kalispell Montana public school …”

Lenio appears to have been arrested in 2015, and subsequently released on a plea bargain which saw felony charges for intimidation reduced to a misdemeanour, in a manner which has been called into question.  Despite repeatedly referring to himself as a “wage slave”, Lenio appears to have been released into the custody of his wealthy investment banker father.

As a condition of this release, he was ordered not to use social media, a restriction which he has allegedly consistently breached. Despite him initially being apprehended with several weapons, there does not appear to be any evidence that he was disarmed as a condition of his release.

Fortunately, it appears that Lenio will finally come before a Judge this month to answer felony charges. The fact that it has taken this long, despite him apparently having consistently fetishised violence, particularly against Jews, is a rather worrying failure of the Justice and Security systems in the United States. This is a man who repeatedly threatened to kill Jews, against whom a case was dropped in an apparently clandestine manner, and who appeared to be heavily armed. Indeed, it seems quite miraculous that he did not carry out any of the attacks that he threatened, given that the only engagement he was forced to have with the authorities was to report where he was living if he moved. We can only hope that he finally meets with the full force of the law and that prosecutors are more proactive against bringing similar threats to justice in the future.

 

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Iran’s Supreme leader calls to destroy “cancerous tumour” Israel, seemingly blames Israel for ISIS

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has called for a “holy intifada” to destroy the “cancerous tumour” of Israel.

In his opening address to Iran’s sixth international conference in support of the Palestinians, Khamenei described the whole world as being on a collision course with the “Zionist regime”. He said “From the beginning, this cancerous tumor has been developing in several phases until it turned into the current disaster…the cure for this tumor should be developed in phases as well.”

Describing Israel as a “cancerous tumour” is reminiscent of antisemitic language used against Jews, particularly in Nazi Germany, which referred to Jews as vermin or diseases which needed to be eradicated. The idea of Jews as a disease is still very common in far right antisemitism. According to the definition of antisemitism, it is antisemitic to use the “symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism to characterise Israel or Israelis”.

He reportedly blamed Israel for the current upheaval in the wider Middle East. Accusing Israel of founding, organising or funding ISIS is currently a very common antisemitic conspiracy theory which we are increasingly encountering online, and which we have covered instances of several times, including from a prominent anti-Zionist Facebook group and from a London-based Labour party fundraiser.

The Ayatollah said “the people of Palestine have no option other than keeping the flames of fighting alight by relying on Allah the Exalted and by relying on their innate capabilities, as they have genuinely done so until today” and also described the “brutal occupation” of Palestine as the worst case of oppression of a group of people in recorded history.

As an organisation, we have no position with the conflict between Israel, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern states. However, describing the situation of Palestinians as the worst case of oppression in recorded history is ahistorical to the point of amounting to denial of the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide and a plethora of other atrocities in human history. It is a statement that is calculated to demonise Jews as the perpetrators of the worst atrocity in human history, which is in turn being used to incite terrorism.

 

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Neo-Nazi arrested by FBI, allegedly planned Synagogue terror attack in South Carolina

Benjamin Thomas Samuel McDowell, 29, has been arrested by the FBI after he allegedly attempted to purchase a gun from an FBI agent, allegedly planning to commit a terrorist attack “in the spirit of Dylan Roofe”, the White Supremacist terrorist who murdered nine African American worshippers at a Church in cold blood in 2015.

McDowell met with the FBI agent in South Carolina, who was undercover, believing that he “handled problems for the Aryan Nations”. He said “I got the heart to do that s***, but I don’t have to the good training…if I could do something on a f***** big scale and write on the f***** building or whatever, ‘In the spirit of Dylann Roof.’”

He contacted the agent the next day to obtain a weapon, which he allegedly stated was to use for an attack in the county in which he lives.

The FBI monitored his social media accounts, which they believe indicated that he wished to attack a Conservative Synagogue in his area. The Rabbi of the Synagogue has been advised not to comment on this situation by the FBI.

McDowell has already been brought to trial

The events are a disturbing reminder of the very real threat which is faced by Jewish communities across the world. The security services are to commended by the handling of the situation, identifying a credible threat and apprehending him swiftly. At a time in which a far right terrorist attack is always a possibility, the ability of security services to monitor extremist activity, to understand the nature of threats, and to act swiftly is paramont

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Wiesenthal Center raises concerns over new Venezuelan Vice President’s ties to Hizbollah

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has raised concerns over Tareck El Aissami’s, the newly made up Vice President of Venezuela’s, ties to Hezbollah, as well as Islamic regimes in the Middle East.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center released a report which expresses concerns that El Aissami “is closely identified with Shiite Iran, the Hizbollah terrorist organization and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s family, whom he apparently hosted in Caracas”.

El-Aissami is also linked by the report, through his links to Iran, to involvement with the 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish Centre bombing, which killed 85 people and injured over 300, as well as to drug and weapon trafficking between Latin America and the Middle East.

The leader of Hizbollah famously said that that “the Jews will gather from all parts of the world into occupied Palestine, not in order to bring about the anti-Christ and the end of the world, but rather that Allah the Glorified and Most High wants to save you from having to go to the ends of the world, for they have gathered in one place–they have gathered in one place–and there the final and decisive battle will take place“.

Despite claims from various people within Hizbollah that the organisation is merely anti-Zionist, and in fact supports the religious rights of Jews, Robert Wistrich’s book “The Fatal Obsession” details how their ideology fuses both political anti-Zionism with historically common, and far more vitriolic, Islamic antisemitism. This includes, but is not limited to, prominent figures within Hizbollah describing Jews as “the grandsons of apes and pigs”, with one official saying “”If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli”. Jews being described as “weak” or “cowardly” is a common strand of thought in Islamic antisemitism.

Hizbollah has also imported various elements of Western antisemitism into its ideology, with Hassan Nasrallah allegedly claiming that “Jews invented the legend of the Nazi atrocities”, and saying that it is evident from the Quran “what they did to the prophets”, invoking the common Christian claim that the Jews are collectively responsible for killing Jesus. Both of these claims are those which we may more readily associate with the far right than with far left or Islamic antisemitism.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is thus rightly concerned that the promotion of an individual with close ties to such a group could lead to a worsening situation for the country’s Jews. Hugo Chavez had a long record of making antisemitic statements, and whilst some of these were clearly related to his ideological opposition to Zionism, some demonstrated the characteristics of traditional antisemitism, with him at one point describing Jews as “the descendants of the same ones that crucified Christ”. When challenged about his antisemitism, Chavez went so far as to say that such claims were “part of an imperialist campaign”.

The relationship between Socialist Venezuela and Islamic antisemitism in the Middle East is a complex one. The country may well feel that, in a part of the world in which left wing governments are particularly concerned about the possibility of opposition or interference from America, they must form alliances elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, in this case it clearly has led to what CAA Chairman Gideon Falter has described as a combining of “the strains of far-right antisemitism, far-left antisemitism and Islamist antisemitism into one super-resistant antisemitic ideology that is almost invulnerable to the usual social immune defences of reason and opprobrium”.

There is a clear risk that El-Aissami may, as  Dr. Ariel Gelblung of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre says “transform antisemitism into state policy and further the transplantation of the Middle East conflict to South America”. Though there have been efforts to protect Venezuela’s Jewish Community, with El-Aissami having been Justice Minister when the Government was forced to reassure the Jewish community following the desecration of Synagogues in 2009, his links to extremism, and to the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires in particular, are extremely worrying for the Jewish community in the country and must be addressed by the Government to convince international observers that Venezuela will be provide safety for its Jews.

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Australia: Man charged with terrorism after making “how to” videos about killing Jews

A man in Australia is being charged with a series of terrorism-related offences after he allegedly produced a series of videos inciting violence against Jews.

The man, 50, was arrested by police in Adelaide on Thursday, and is being charged with four counts of advocating terrorism, each of which carries a potential 5 year sentence.

His lawyer has claimed that her client has mental health difficulties, and his initial hearing took place via telephone from the state infirmary.

Commonwealth Prosecutor, John Clover, said:

“In each video the defendant is depicted advocating with other persons engaged in acts of terrorism via the defendant providing explicit verbal instructions as well as physical demonstrations with weapons as to how to kill Jewish people”.

We applaud the action of the police and prosecution services, who have assured Jewish communities in Australia that there is no heightened risk as a result of the videos.

 

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Dutch Muslim accused of threatening to behead Jews in Ireland

A 39-year-old Dutch Muslim is facing trial in Cork, Ireland, for threatening to kill two French nationals as well as threatening to behead Jews.

Smael Heirouche is accused of saying to the two men that “Zionists should have their throats cut”, whilst calling them “Zionists” and making threatening gestures.

Mr Heirouche is also accused of saying that if he had a sword he would cut off the heads of Jews.

“He was quoting the Koran. They did not have the same belief. He did not take kindly to this. He made reference to recent terrorist attacks in France” said Detective Geraldine Daly. He apparently spoke approvingly of terrorist attacks against Jews in France.

Heirouche was was allegedly making the threats in the name of Islamic extremism, and brandished a Koran as he did so.

Heirouche was refused bail by the judge, due to the severity of the accusations, as well as having attempted to book flights abroad, presenting a risk that he would abscond.

 

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Armed attacker enters Moscow Synagogue

A man has broken into the Great Synagogue in Moscow during the Shabbat evening prayers on Saturday.

The attacker entered the Synagogue with a gun, perhaps a taser, and a cylinder of gas, asking to meet Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis.

When he entered the Synagogue, there were around 150 worshippers present.

Security removed him and attempted to hold him on the other side of the road, but he injured one of the guards, briefly escaping before being arrested by the police.

Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt commented “The evening prayer was conducted as usual, and we will conduct the High Holiday prayers as usual. We work in conjunction with the Moscow police, and I bless the entire Jewish people that they should be ‘signed and sealed’ for a good year”.

Additional security is being arranged for the High Holy Days. Incidents such at these highlight just how vulnerable Jewish communities continue to be to acts of terrorism and violence.

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Hasidic Rabbi stabbed in Strasbourg by attacker shouting “Allahu Ackbar”

A Hasidic Rabbi was stabbed this afternoon in Strabourg, by an attacker shouting “Allahu Ackbar”.

Rabbi Chalom Levy, who is described as belonging to a Hasidic sect, was stabbed in the Jewish quarter of the city, 500 metres from the Great Synagogue.

Rabbi Mendel Samama, another Rabbi in Strasbourg, said that Rabbi Levy described his survival as a “miracle”.

“He was shocked. He is weak. He was hit in the abdominal region a few centimetres from a vital organ”, said Rabbi Samama.

The Grand Rabbi of Strasbourg, Rabbi René Gutman, has said that this is the work of one lone attacker, and is not reflective of a wider problem in the city, but has requested additional security.

Strasbourg has a Jewish community numbering around 15,000.

The attacker has reportedly been involved in a similar attack previously.

France has been described as one of the most dangerous countries to be a Jew and over half of French Jews wish to leave the country for Israel.

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Explosions outside homes of New York Rabbis

The Police are investigating after there were explosions outside the homes of two prominent New York Rabbis.

The explosions took place in Rockland County.

A woman heard one of the explosions outside her house. Going out to investigate, she saw four men running from the scene, one of whom hurled a firework at her house.

As the police were investigating, it came to light that another explosion had occurred nearly.

The first explosion occurred outside the house of Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky, the Director of Chabad. The second occured outside the house of Rabbi Simcha Morganstern, a Rabbi at Chabad of Rockland.

The Anti-Defamation League produced the following press release:

“We are outraged by this shocking incident in what appears to be the alleged targeting of two prominent rabbis, and we join with local leadership, including the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, in strongly condemning this brazen act of violence”.

“We are maintaining close contact with local law enforcement and are urging them to vigorously investigate and prosecute those responsible for this alleged anti-Semitic attack.”

“While we are relieved that nobody was injured, such a troubling incident like this can effectively intimidate the broader Jewish community, leaving them feeling vulnerable and at risk. People of any religion, race or ethnicity must feel safe in their own neighborhoods. We are pleased to see statements by local elected officials denouncing the incident and we encourage the community to come together to fight anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry.”

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Danish schoolgirl and returned fighter from Syria charged over Jewish school bomb plot

A 16-year-old Danish girl has been charged with planning a terrorist attack on two schools, one of them Jewish. According to Danish police, the girl was befriended by a 24-year-old who local media have said had returned to Denmark after fighting in Syria. The girl was charged after acquiring chemicals for bombs, and her friend has also been charged over his complicity in preparing the bombs, including providing bomb-making instructions. Local channel TV2 said the girl had recently converted to Islam.

Both the girl and her friend have pleaded innocence.

In February last year, a terrorist gunman killed two people in shooting attacks at a debating event, before moving on and murdering Dan Udan, a security volunteer at a Copenhagen synagogue.