Wiesenthal Centre to Northern Ireland Secretary of State on the Belfast Jewish Cemetery Desecration: “The Intent that Begins in a Graveyard can Lead on to an Eventual Pogrom.”

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE
Tel.: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37
Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01
Email:csweurope@gmail.com

“Jihadi atrocities are accompanied by a 'cultural cleansing’ of non-Islamic holy sites. Cemetery desecrators are similarly associatesto terror.”

Paris, 29 August 2016

In a letter to the recently appointed UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire MP, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Directorfor International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, argued,“Belfast – a city that has witnessed so much violence between Protestants and Catholics – is now the scene of a vicious antisemitic assault, not on live Jews but, reportedly, by a mob in aparoxysm of hate targeting their deceased families. Jewish history has learned that the intent that begins with a cemetery desecration can lead on to an eventual pogrom.”

The letter noted, “Apparently the attack was premeditated, as eight youths came armed with hammers and blocks, accompanied by a crowd ofracist supporters.”

The Centre acknowledged, “The Secretary’s own experience in law enforcement and counter-terrorism, made him well aware that Jihadi atrocitiesare now accompanied by, what UNESCO has denoted as, 'cultural cleansing’ of non-Islamic holy sites. Thus, cemetery desecrators are likewise associates to terror, whether neo-Nazi, extreme left orIslamist.”

Samuels explained, “Twenty-five years ago, I was driving through Streatham in South London and stopped at the Jewish cemetery, where 23members of my family are buried. About one-third of the gravestones were destroyed, including that of my grandparents. My work-desk is strewn daily with the detritus of antisemitism, but thistime it was personal. I rebuilt my grandparents’ tombstone, but the pain remains as an alert to impending danger.”

The letter suggested, “This Belfast antisemitic outburst is a test case for Ulster in the aftermath of ‘the Troubles.’ The desecration must bewidely discussed in classrooms and the media in the context of Holocaust education. The perpetrators’ punishment must result in an understanding of the gravity of their act.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre offered the Ulster administration, “...its documentaries and experience in extirpating the root causes ofhate.”

For further information please contact Shimon Samuels + 33 609 770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).