A 60-year-old Peki'in resident was arrested Sunday for spray painting the ancient synagogue and a private residence in the Galilee Jewish-Arab town. A local woman found the words "Death to the Jews" and a swastika painted the side of her home Sunday morning. Police she called discovered a swastika spray painted on the synagogue next to the woman's home.
Peki'in was famous until recently for being the place with the most continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel. The ruins of the ancient house of worship served as the basis for a synagogue built from donations of the Beirut Jewish community in 1873 and still impress visitors.
Recently, local Arabs have attacked local Jews. The woman whose house was victimized told tourists and those who came to the site because of the vandalism report, "They hate Israel. For years they have been bothering the Jews. It's a group of people who do this on purpose to protest the existence of the Jews of Peki'in."
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