{"id":17702,"date":"2015-04-12T18:00:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-12T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=17702"},"modified":"2015-04-11T08:17:23","modified_gmt":"2015-04-11T06:17:23","slug":"17702","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=17702","title":{"rendered":"Vandals deface Gaithersburg synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Vandals deface Gaithersburg synagogue<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n

By David Holzel<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Photo

Photo credit: Andy Hausman<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Gaithersburg police are treating as a hate crime the appearance overnight of multiple swastikas defacing Shaare Torah. A police patrol of the Lakelands community discovered on a morning drive-by that 11 swastikas and \u201cKKK\u201d were spray painted on three sides of the Conservative synagogue, according to Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A security camera recorded two people carrying spray paint at 2:37 a.m. Tuesday, said Mark Sroka, Gaithersburg\u2019s chief of police. There are no suspects, but there is \u201cone young man who is a person of interest,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Police deemed the incident a hate crime because it was \u201can unlawful act designed to frighten, intimidate or harass\u201d with a bias against a religious group, Sroka said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A hate crime carries a penalty of up to three years imprisonment and\/or a $5,000 fine, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 260 member household synagogue has not received any threats or asked for additional security, Sroka said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The graffiti, in white, was on the outside walls and front door of the building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blumenthal said that while disturbing, the event was not indicative of a larger problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an isolated person or group,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cThe fabric of diversity in the county and the city is strong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The vandalism occurred hours after Gaithersburg\u2019s mayor proclaimed April 12-19 as Days of Remembrance in the city for the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaithersburg police will continue their investigation before opening a tip line for the public to use, Sroka said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Update, April 8, 1:10 p.m.: A group of local Muslim organizations has condemned the vandalism at Shaare Torah. The Muslim community \u201cextend[s] our hand in friendship to the Shaare Torah congregation of Gaithersburg, as well as to the greater Jewish Community,\u201d according to a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Signatories included: WORDE\/International Cultural Center, Muslim Democratic Club of Montgomery County, Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland, Howard County Muslim Council,<\/span>
\n Montgomery County Muslim Relief and The Islamic Congregations of Montgomery County.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national advocacy group, expressed solidarity with the Jewish community following the vandalism at Shaare Torah.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand in solidarity with the Jewish community as they respond to this act of hatred,\u201d CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement. \u201cAmericans of all faiths should be free to worship without intimidation or harassment. Targeting a house of worship with symbols of hatred and violence is a despicable act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

mailto: dholzel@washingtonjewishweek.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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twoje uwagi, linki, wlasne artykuly, lub wiadomosci przeslij do: webmaster@reunion68.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Vandals deface Gaithersburg synagogue By David Holzel Gaithersburg police are treating as a hate crime the appearance overnight of multiple swastikas defacing Shaare Torah. A police patrol of the Lakelands community discovered on a morning drive-by that 11 swastikas and \u201cKKK\u201d were spray painted on three sides of the Conservative synagogue, according to Rabbi Jacob […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17702"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17721,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17702\/revisions\/17721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}