Swastikas scrawled on Upper West Side church
Swastika vandalism isn’t restricted to Jewish sites.
Two of the Nazi symbols were cut into the wooden doors of the Fourth Universalist Society on Central Park West near W. 76th St. on Tuesday, the Daily News reported. The church is known for providing shelter to refugees and undocumented immigrants.
The words “race office” also appeared on the church. when they opened for services Tuesday morning. The words, the Daily News explained, “are a nod to the Office of Racial Policy within the Nazi party that promoted the Aryan race and laid the foundation for anti-Semitism in the 1930s.”
The NYPD is investigating the vandalism swastikas as a hate crime.
Muslims: We’ll guard Jewish cemeteries
Following the recent wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers and the vandalism of two Jewish cemeteries in the United States, some Muslims on Twitter are offering to help guard Jewish sites, according to JTA.
The tweeters, including some veterans, said they would volunteer to protect JCCs, cemeteries and synagogues.
This show of solidarity comes after an online fundraising campaign started by two Muslims raised more than $150,000 to repair a vandalized Jewish cemetery outside of St. Louis last week.
Homeland Security to advise JCCS
The Department of Homeland Security has offered support to Jewish communities across the United States in the wake of a series of recent bomb threats against Jewish community centers and a wave of vandalism in Jewish cemeteries in recent months.
The Times of Israel reported that DHS Secretary John Kelly said in a statement that he has “have directed DHS to heighten our outreach and support to enhance public safety … in terms of training, protective measures, exercises and information sharing.”
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Counterterrorism experts have also provided Jewish communities information about available federal help, Kelly added.
David Rubinger dies at 92
David Rubinger, a Israeli photographer who took some of the country’s most iconic pictures over a career that lasted more than seven decades, died Thursday at the age of 92.
His best-known photograph was Israeli paratroopers entering at the Western Wall after Israeli soldiers recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. Awarded the Israel Prize for his works in 1997, his work captured key moments in Israel’s history.
Born in Austria in 1924, Mr. Rubinger immigrated to Israel in 1939 and fought with the Jewish Brigade during World War II. He began to work as a photojournalist in 1951.
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