The arson, which coincided with the burning of a Jewish-owned clothing store not far away, occurred this past Sunday night. Both the synagogue library and the shop were totally burnt.
Prof. Alfred Donath, President of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, told Arutz-7 that the police have still not officially ascertained that the attacks were anti-Semitic in nature. "We won't accuse anyone," he said, "but we do believe that this was quite a grave act, and it certainly brings up bad memories."
He noted that the mayor of the city had condemned the attack, as did many residents in a public demonstration.
Prof. Donath noted the very tight bonds linking Swiss Jewry – 18-20,000 strong – with Israel. "There are 11,000 Israelis with Swiss passports," he said, "and in the past year, almost 500 Jews made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel]. Most of them are young, and in fact, many of our communities have lost some of their best young people to Israel – and I don't mean that in a negative way; we have a good feeling about it."
Some 80% of young Swiss Jews spend at least one summer in Israel by the time they're 15 or 16 years old, Prof. Donath said.
Previous anti-Semitic vandalism in synagogues has included only graffiti daubed on walls. Anti-Semitic violence in Switzerland has claimed one life, however; in June 2001, Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, a father of 11 from Bnei Brak, was murdered in Zurich.
Switzerland has a large Moslem population of some 500,000 – and the city of Lugano has a strong representation thereof. On the day before the double arson, the Neue Zurcher Zeitung reported that Lugano tourism officials had published a brochure in Arabic catering specifically to Moslem tastes. A comparison of the Italian, French and German versions of the Lugano tourist brochure with the Arabic-language text reveals that in the latter, pictures of churches are conspicuously missing. In addition, references to the local variety of pork-based salami were replaced with inoffensive local cheeses.
Prof. Alfred Donath, President of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, told Arutz-7 that the police have still not officially ascertained that the attacks were anti-Semitic in nature. "We won't accuse anyone," he said, "but we do believe that this was quite a grave act, and it certainly brings up bad memories."
He noted that the mayor of the city had condemned the attack, as did many residents in a public demonstration.
Prof. Donath noted the very tight bonds linking Swiss Jewry – 18-20,000 strong – with Israel. "There are 11,000 Israelis with Swiss passports," he said, "and in the past year, almost 500 Jews made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel]. Most of them are young, and in fact, many of our communities have lost some of their best young people to Israel – and I don't mean that in a negative way; we have a good feeling about it."
Some 80% of young Swiss Jews spend at least one summer in Israel by the time they're 15 or 16 years old, Prof. Donath said.
Previous anti-Semitic vandalism in synagogues has included only graffiti daubed on walls. Anti-Semitic violence in Switzerland has claimed one life, however; in June 2001, Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, a father of 11 from Bnei Brak, was murdered in Zurich.
Switzerland has a large Moslem population of some 500,000 – and the city of Lugano has a strong representation thereof. On the day before the double arson, the Neue Zurcher Zeitung reported that Lugano tourism officials had published a brochure in Arabic catering specifically to Moslem tastes. A comparison of the Italian, French and German versions of the Lugano tourist brochure with the Arabic-language text reveals that in the latter, pictures of churches are conspicuously missing. In addition, references to the local variety of pork-based salami were replaced with inoffensive local cheeses.