Hackers attack European Jewish Press website

Turkish hackers breached the European Jewish Press’s news website Wednesday night, paralyzing the site and replacing the homepage with a picture of a Turkish flag shaped like a mushroom cloud, according to the EJP.

“This is not the first time a Jewish site is hacked by hackers on the Internet,” EJP editor-in-chief Yossi Lempkowicz said. “This is clearly an attempt to silence a Jewish information site.”

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the director general of the Rabbinical Center of Europe, echoed Lempkowicz’s comments, adding that such attacks on Jewish websites were emblematic of the larger issue of growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

“These hackings are part of the ongoing anti-Israeli activities, aimed against Jewish establishments throughout Europe,” he said. “These very days, we are conducting a joint campaign with European Muslim leaders in an attempt to overturn various legislation that ban kosher butchering and circumcision — two traditions that are sacred both to Jews and Muslims.”

The attack occurred shortly after the site posted a story on Scarlett Johansson’s ongoing saga with SodaStream and proponents of boycotting Israeli goods produced in the West Bank.

A group called “Atomaker & Hasturk” claimed credit for the attack in a message written in Turkish that appeared on the page and also read, “Revenge for Turkestan, Palestine, Syrian and Egypt,” and “Do not try to test the power of the Turks!” In addition, readers who visited the page were bombarded with oriental music.

An EJP technical team worked into the night to remove the picture from the homepage, and as of Thursday afternoon, the site was offline, the news agency said in a statement.

“We’re working to restore our site as quickly as possible. We will tirelessly continue our mission to disseminate information to our readers worldwide despite this attack and attempt to silent and boycott us,” Lempkowicz said.