NEW YORK – Reacting to the most recent disruption of an egalitarian service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem by ultra-Orthodox protesters, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said:
“I am disgusted by the hatred, intolerance, bigotry and, yes, antisemitism displayed yet again by thousands of ultra-Orthodox men and women who desecrated a Bat Mitzvah service and violated the right of 12-year-old Lucia da Silva to practice our faith freely in what is supposed to be the beating heart of the entire Jewish people.
“My heart goes out to Lucia and her family, and I want to reassure her that the thugs who disrupted her Bat Mitzvah service at the Western Wall represent an aberrant minority who must be condemned by all who believe in the unity of the Jewish people.
“At the same time, I am deeply troubled by the continued failure of the police to prevent this vile desecration from happening in the first place. I call on the Israeli and Jerusalem authorities to undertake meaningful measures to protect non-Orthodox Jews who wish to pray at the Kotel. The future of the Jewish people is at stake.”
About the World Jewish Congress
Media contact
