Turkish synagogue vandalised after re-opening

 The Tebah of the 17th century Istipol synagogue in Istanbul’s Balat quarter (photo: Jarvis Devon)

Vandals spray-painted hate graffiti on the historic Istipol Synagogue in Istanbul
just days after a one-time prayer service was held, the first in 65
years, the Turkish publication Today’s Zaman (picked up by the Jerusalem Post) reported. (With thanks: Eliyahu)

Vandals
wrote “Terrorist Israel, there is Allah,” on the external walls of the
structure in white paint, in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Balat.

“Writing
anti-Israel speech on the wall [outside] of a synagogue is an act of
anti-Semitism,” Ivo Molinas, editor-inchief of the Jewish community’s
weekly newspaper Salom, said in an interview with the Turkish
newspaper.

“There is widespread anti-Semitism voiced in Turkey
and it gets in the way of celebrating the richness of cultural
diversity in this country,” he added.

Molinas was upset at the
linkage made between the Jewish community in Turkey and Israel,
emphasizing that the Turkish Jewish community is not connected to
Israeli policy.

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