Bomb and gun attacks on Jews in Europe
Jewish Chronicle | 26.04.2002 12:43
According to Gary Fellman, president of the centre, “Little damage was done. We were very fortunate the windows didn’t give way.”
A Shabbat service, regularly attended by Israeli embassy staff, took place as usual, followed by a Yom Ha’atzmaut function in the evening.
In Belgium, a series of anti-Jewish incidents — and pro-Palestinian rallies — prompted a public rally by the Jewish community.
Nearly 2,000 Belgian Jews gathered at the synagogue in Anderlecht, a Brussels suburb with a large Muslim population. The shul was firebombed earlier this month.
Organised by community organisations as a protest against racism and anti-Semitism, the rally went off without incident. Within 24 hours, however two more attacks on Jewish sites had taken place.
In Charleroi, south of Brussels, a gun attack left a synagogue with 18 bullet-holes, while in Brussels the windows of a Jewish-owned furniture shop were daubed with graffiti and swastikas.
A synagogue in Antwerp was also firebombed earlier this month, and last week a building housing a Jewish bookshop and kosher delicatessen was burned down.
Two weeks ago, a window in a Jewish travel agency in Brussels was pelted with stones. In Antwerp, pro-Palestinian demonstrators smashed the windows of several Jewish shops.
“Anti-Semitism is resurfacing in a different form,” said Guy Weissberg, 40, a local businessman. “The events in Israel are being used as an excuse for attacks against Jews.”
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