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BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 11 October 2019

• 12 Tishrei 5780 •

Issue No.1127

•

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‘Who shall live, who shall die?’

Yom Kippur prayer

VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS It doesn’t matter if you’re a devoted shul-goer or twice-a-year Jew, finding out about a terror attack on a synagogue while you’re in synagogue during Yom Kippur triggers the same thoughts and inflicts the same wounds: Jews shot for being Jews; it could have been here; it happened to be there. It feels like being at the scene of the crime. Wednesday’s deadly shootings in Halle were shocking but not surprising. There has been a chilling rise in attacks on Jews in cities like Copenhagen, Brussels, Toulouse and particularly Paris, where Jewish people and property are now casual targets for blind hate. A recent EU poll of 16,000 European Jews found 40 percent have considered fleeing. The UK terror threat is ever-present but, mercifully, British Jews don’t contend with the same level of menace, despite figures for the first six months of 2019 showing a record 892 reported antisemitic incidents. The Govern-

ment has increased its annual financial commitment to Jewish security to £14million. This funds equipment and staffing costs to protect schools and community centres, where security gates and guards, barbed wire fences, even blast doors, are commonplace. But money alone is not enough. The government should also give police greater powers to deal with racially-motivated violence and courts greater freedom to wield stiff penalties to deter the next delinquent intent on chucking a brick through a shul window, or worse. The Halle attack is another grievous lesson in how racism rapidly moves from the web to the real world. Like the Christchurch mosque killer, one of the terrorists wore a webcam to live-stream the carnage and was no doubt inspired by conspiracy sites and blogs. It’s also a painful reminder of the ever-present threat from the far-right at a time when Jews have been focused on the antisemitism of the far-left (Ken Livingstone hasn’t blamed the Yom Kippur attack on the actions of the Israel government yet. We hope he’s OK). No matter how dire the statistics, British Jews define themselves not by antisemitism but the contribution they make to British life. Despite our self-confidence, Halle will have dealt another serious blow to our sense of security. Full story, page 2

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Jewish News 11 October 2019

News / Yom Kippur attack

‘We have Halle in our hearts’ British Jewish groups reacted with shock this week after a heavily-armed assailant tried to force his way into a synagogue in Germany during Yom Kippur, then shot two people to death in an attack live-streamed on a popular gaming website, writes Mathilde Frot. The suspect, named in German media as 27-year-old Stephan Balliet, shot a woman in the street after failing to enter the synagogue and then entered a nearby kebab shop where he killed another person before fleeing. He said before the shooting that Jews were “the root” of “problems” such as feminism and “mass immigration”, according to a group that tracks online extremism. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis tweeted: “The tragic reality is that wherever there are Jews, hatred is never far away. I pay tribute to all those who routinely place themselves in harm’s way to protect Jewish communities all over the world.” Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl deplored the “far-right motivated murder perpetrated on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, against innocent worshippers as well as diners in a restaurant.” Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, lamented the “tragic loss of life” and extended his gratitude to security organisations such as the CST that “worked so hard today to keep our community safe.” The CST itself expressed “deepest sympathy” to the families, friends and communities “of those murdered and injured”.

Floral tributes left outside the shul and, inset, bullet holes in the front door

John Mann, the Government’s new antisemitism tsar, said his “thoughts are with the Jewish community in this country and especially those who live in Germany.” “This isn’t an isolated incident and the number of antisemitic murders have grown significantly across Europe over the last three years,” he added. “Whenever a Jewish person feels unsafe and

SHUL HAD BEEN TOLD: NO SERIOUS THREAT Congregants of the Halle synagogue targeted on Yom Kippur were previously told there was “no acute threat” when members demanded police protection, an eyewitness has claimed. A heavily-armed attacker shot at the locked door of the synagogue in Halle, where some 80 worshippers were gathered to celebrate Judaism’s holiest day. The assailant was unable to enter the building but killed two people nearby and several more were injured in the attack, which also targeted a kebab shop and was live-streamed on the gaming platform Twitch. Eyewitness Anastassia Pletoukhina, who was in the synagogue during the attack, told the Jüdische Allgemeine newspaper it was “the longest 20 minutes” of her life. “It was miracle that we survived. It was really, very close. The windows are made of

normal glass, the offender would only have had to shoot in and he would have been inside and it would have been a bloodshed,” she said in German. Pletoukhina, whose husband helped barricade the front door, said it was “a scandal” the shul had not been placed under police protection on Yom Kippur, echoing calls in the community for greater security to prevent future attacks. She revealed the shul’s security guard was an untrained volunteer and claimed the community had demanded police protection on several occasions but were repeatedly told there was “no acute threat.” The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany told AFP: “It is scandalous that the synagogue in Halle is not protected by police on a holiday like Yom Kippur. “This negligence has now been bitterly repaid.”

vulnerable as they make their way to the synagogue or carrying out their daily it’s for us to stand with them and call out the racists, root out the extremists and use all the necessary powers to stop the terrorists.” The representative group for European Jewry said the attack should “send shock waves in Germany and beyond” and that more needs to be done to combat radicalisation.

“We need to do more to guarantee these types of attacks do not happen again, by combatting radicalisation, creating tougher law enforcement measures and putting more resources into educating towards tolerance,” said European Jewish Congress President Dr Moshe Kantor. Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog said the “entire world sees and hears what is happening and must understand that there can be no compromise in the fight against hatred of Jews and antisemitism.” “We share in the mourning of the families whose loved ones were murdered, wish the wounded a speedy recovery and send strength to the worshippers and members of the community who are in deep mourning,” he added. United Synagogue’s Rabbi Nicky Liss said: “Attacking Jews at prayer is an act of despicable cruelty and cowardice, and particularly shocking on Yom Kippur. We wishlong life to the families of those murdered and pray for a speedy recovery for the injured.” The Reform Movement’s senior Rabbi Janner-Klausner called for action, tweeting on Wednesday evening: “Our newly-replenished hearts, minds and souls after Yom Kippur ache in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Halle. It’s time to replace incendiary language with careful words, hatred with love and fear with safety. Now is the time. Now is the time.”

Halle’s Jewish history With ties stretching back to crated in 1953, with a memthe 11th century, the Jews of bership of 50 Jews by 1966. Halle have suffered centuries Membership fell to just five of persecution, pogroms and in 1989 before the end of the expulsions. Soviet Union revitalised the Its Jewish cemetery was community. It numbered 731 designated in 1693 and synaJews by 2004, with a Liberal gogue opened in 1700, with community established in official recognition from the 1996, totalling 200 by 2005. government in 1704. It is the birthplace of infaThe Holocaust looms over mous Nazi figures including its Jewish story. Halle was Reinhard Heydrich, who home to 1,300 Jews in 1933 chaired the 1942 Wannsee but its synagogue was demolConference which formalished on the eve of the war in ised plans for the Final Solu1938. Some 200 local Jewish tion. Other key Nazis from men were arrested and sent to Halle pictured in 1870 the town include Paul Götze, Buchenwald. Many hundreds Johannes Hassebroek and more fled the country. Walter Eisfeld. Some 262 were deported to the east of It was also the hometown of Hans Litten, which only 43 are known to have survived, a lawyer who challenged the Nazis in court according to the Jewish virtual library. before Hitler became chancellor. Litten died in After the war its new synagogue was conse- Dachau in 1938, aged 35.

Timeline of terror: 50 minutes of hell Just before noon local time (11am GMT) the terror attack in the German city of Halle begins

12:14

A police spokesperson reports: “People killed”... “Offender fled”. A search operation for the attackers is underway.

12:21

Two victims confirmed killed. Bild newspaper reports one shooter used submachine gun.

12:31