Kindgo
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This is so sad. ![[tears]](graemlins/cry2.gif) ![[fie]](graemlins/fie.gif)
http://wire.ap.org/?FRONTID=EUROPE&...ECE%2dTERRORISM
JULY 18, 15:24 ET
Jewish Tombstones Desecrated in Rome
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press Writer
AP/Mario Cassetta [39K]
ROME (AP) — Dozens of Jewish graves were desecrated in a nighttime rampage through a Rome cemetery in Italy's latest display of anti-Semitism, prompting condemnation Thursday from politicians and Jewish leaders.
The culprits smashed parts of headstones, ripped off marble Star of David decorations and tore off parts of gravestones bearing Hebrew writing in the Jewish section of the Verano cemetery. At least one coffin was partially ripped open.
In all, 34 graves were damaged. The desecration, which happened after the cemetery closed Wednesday, was discovered Thursday by a visitor.
The vandalism, Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini said, ``is an infamy that provokes horror and offends the consciences of all.''
Fini added that the desecration ``unfortunately shows that our society isn't immune from the risk of new and odious forms of anti-Semitism.'' The new anti-Semitism, he said, is ``often masked by a violent criminalization of Israel.''
A wave of anti-Jewish violence has swept much of Europe in the last few months. Firebombs have been hurled at synagogues and Jewish schools in France, and Orthodox Jews have been assaulted on the streets of London. Other countries reporting anti-Semitic violence have included Belgium, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.
``We are now in a situation of tension,'' Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, told Associated Press Television News. He called the desecration a ``deep wound, a great offense, but this offense is made to the sensitivity of all citizens of Rome.''
In a statement, a spokesman for Milan's Jewish community, Yasha Reibman, said that ``in Italy and in Europe, a new, political anti-Semitism is growing, which uses as an alibi all that's happening in Israel.''
The surge in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe began when the Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000 and was renewed this spring after Israel launched a military offensive in the West Bank.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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