A possibly anti-religious group of squatters temporarily occupied a Caracas synagogue undergoing renovations. The building was not desecrated, and police evacuated the 20 homeless peacefully.
They broke into the building with the demand that the government convert it into apartments, apparently not realizing that the Beit Abraham synagogue is being renovated.
However, the selection of the synagogue follows an incident last week involving a shot fired at a Catholic image in the city.
“These people know exactly what they are doing even if they might not know what a synagogue really is,” an anti-government blogger wrote. “But they have heard the anti-Jewish talk of the [Chavez] regime and the anti-Catholic [rhetoric] of Chavez,” who has been accused by the Catholic church of heading an anti-democratic regime.
The Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations stated, “The action’s objective was not to disturb the normal activities of the synagogue, and the protesters did not enter the religious grounds, nor did they act in a disrespectful manner.”