A firecracker has exploded on the steps of the synagogue in the Swedish city of Malmö, a day after a bomb threat was taped to the building. The explosion happened in the early hours of Friday. A bomb threat written on paper had reportedly been taped to the synagogue on the previous evening. It was the second threat directed at the synagogue in two weeks, according to the Swedish newspaper ‘The Local’. Security at the synagogue was increased last week, it reported.
No one was injured by the powerful blast, but three window panes were shattered. “It’s incredibly sad that this should happen again,” Jewish community President Fred Kahn said, adding: “We thought we were finished with this sort of thing.”
Bjorn Lagerbäck, coordinator of a dialog forum in Malmö which works against hate crimes, said the vandalism was extremely serious: “We condemn this completely. Such an event is not just directed against the synagogue, but also at other targets that could be described as ethnic or religious.”
Read the op-ed of World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder on this issue here.
