Weekend attack on synagogue in Argentina was anti-Semitic, Jewish group says

The Jewish umbrella organization of Argentinian Jewry says the deterioration of the country’s socioeconomic situation triggered an attack by a homeless couple on members of a Buenos Aires synagogue.

The attack took place on Friday night at the Mikdash Yosef Orthodox synagogue in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

“The impoverished situation of our Republic provokes, in some sectors of society in a situation of marginality, the invocation of old prejudices installed in society,” the Delegation of Argentine Israelites Associations, or DAIA, says in a statement. The statement designates the attack as anti-Semitic.

On Friday evening a woman entered the synagogue building during Shabbat evening services and was told by worshipers that she could not remain. After the service, as some members of the Jewish community stood talking on the sidewalk in front of the synagogue, a homeless man identified as a friend of the woman broke a bottle and threatened the community members, shouted insults and threw stones. The synagogue’s rabbi, Uriel Husni, grappled with the man and was injured in his arms. The aggressor was eventually held by community members until the police came, according to reports.

The DAIA statement also recommends education to allow Argentina to cross “this difficult moment in peace” with the objective of “taking care of our community, together with the government agencies responsible for that area.”

— JTA