New Zealand Graveyard Vandals Appear in Court
Three men appeared in court in New Zealand and were charged with damaging more than 20 Jewish gravestones in an historic cemetery last week.
The men, aged between 19 and 23, were charged with willful damage of the graves in Auckland, some of which date back to the 1880s.
The vandalism included spray painting swastikas and the number 88 – code for “Heil Hitler,” as well as graffiti including “F***| Israel.” It carries a maximum penalty of seven years.
The three men were ordered to reappear in Auckland District Court next month and received bail on condition they do not associate with each other and do not visit any Jewish cemetery, synagogue or school.
One of them, Nathan Symington, accused police of a “witch-hunt” and said although he was a “small-time criminal” he was no racist and he’d fight the charge “to the bitter end.”
The names of the other two were suppressed by the court.
The attack drew a chorus of condemnation from Jewish officials, Israel’s ambassador, inter-faith leaders and New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, whose mother escaped Nazism by fleeing Vienna, Austria on the eve of the Holocaust.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30