Chabad of Barcelona synagogue hit with anti-Israel graffiti on Israeli independence day
It’s the second such incident for a Barcelona synagogue in nine days
MADRID (JTA) — Vandals defaced the area in front of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s Barcelona synagogue with graffiti that read “Why do you kill in Palestine” early on Wednesday.
The incident, which occurred on Yom Haatzmaut, or Israel’s independence day, prompted outrage from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, the Israelite Community of Barcelona and other Jewish groups.
“This isn’t politics. It’s a synagogue!” tweeted the account of the Israelite Community of Barcelona, which celebrated its centennial in 2018. It is not affiliated with Chabad, the international Hasidic movement.
This is the second act of graffiti vandalism on one of the city’s synagogues in nine days, following a similar incident on April 17 at the Great Synagogue of Barcelona, coinciding with the commemoration of Yom HaShoah, or Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day. There the graffiti read: “Free Palestine from the river to the sea. Solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain umbrella group strongly condemned Wednesday’s act, writing in a statement that “attacking places of worship of Jewish men and women in Barcelona is a clear demonstration of antisemitism.”
In February, Mayor Ada Colau decided to end Barcelona’s twin city designation with Tel Aviv, after a 25-year partnership. Colau had said that Israel is guilty of “apartheid,” as well as “flagrant and systematic violation of human rights.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO