Last night (Thursday), a classical display of out of control Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism made it to Istanbul. The Neve Shalom Synagogue was pelted with rocks and protestors kicked the doors proclaiming they were doing this to protest The Israeli Government’s decision to place magnetic gates at the Temple Mount entrances. They also announced: “If you withhold our freedom of religion we’ll withhold yours too!” (Freedom of religion must mean freedom to kill without prior detection.)
The protest organizers are part of the nationalistic AKP party which supports Erdogan and other protesters were from a nationalistic group of extreme Muslim youth.
The incident struck fear in the hearts of the Istanbul Jewish community since up to now protests were held opposite the Israeli consulate and embassy. Generally speaking, the Jews in Istanbul felt safe up to now though there were attacks at or near this synagogue on September 6th, 1986, when terrorists armed with grenades and machine guns killed 22 people. On November 15th 2003 this synagogue and the Beth Israel Synagogue were again attacked. The Neve Shalom Synagogue was again attacked during services with a truck filled with explosives. 18 people were killed and many more wounded. In the Beth Israel synagogue in Osmabey, 2 minutes after the Neve Shalom bombing, a truck laden with explosives went off killing 23 and injuring over 600.
The Istanbul Jewish community announced: “We denounce the provocative actions outside the Neve Shalom Synagogue and we expect the relevant authorities will take the necessary steps.”