Mexican Synagogue Vandalized Twice With ‘Dogs’ Graffiti Amid UNESCO Vote Drama
![](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/970x/center/images/cropped/roemer-1476740699.jpg)
Image by Wikimedia
— Vandals broke glass windows, smashed furniture, and painted graffiti on the walls of Mexico City’s Agudas Ajim synagogue in two separate attacks.
The attackers used red paint simulating blood to write the word “perros,” which means dogs, and the letter “A” for anarchy, in last week’s incidents.
The vandalism occurred after local Jewish leaders launched a public campaign to urge government officials not to vote in favor of a UNESCO committee proposal that denies Jewish ties to Jerusalem holy sites.
Mexico voted in favor of the resolution and the fight was apparently lost. However, on October 17, the country changed its vote to abstention and fired its Jewish ambassador to UNESCO, Andre Roemer, for protesting against the initial vote, according to a statement.
An unnamed organized group is believed to have perpetrated the synagogue attacks, according to local Jewish security officials who kept the security alert during the Sukkot festivities high in the Latin American nation, reported Iton Gadol news service.
Mexico is home to some 50,000 Jews, making it Latin America’s third largest Jewish population after Argentina and Brazil.
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
![](https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jodi-Headshot.jpg)
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief