By Stefanos Evripidou, Cyprus Mail
THE ISLAND’S chief rabbi, Arie Zeev Raskin, has claimed that the 350 members of the Jewish community in Cyprus have become targets of “hate crimes” and “anti-Semitic offenses”, mainly by Muslims, and that the local authorities are not doing enough to protect them.
For their part, the authorities say they are doing everything within their power to provide adequate protection while questioning the level of violent incidents reported.
In an article published by the Jerusalem Post on February 1, Raskin attributed the increase in “violent attacks” on the influx of Lebanese refugees after the 2006 Lebanon war.
Raskin heads the Chabad House in Larnaca, a Jewish educational organisation. His comments came from an email sent to the benefactors of Cyprus’ Jewish community on January 28.
According to the article, the Jewish community has suffered a series of incidents against its members following the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza on December 27, 2008, with the Chabad House described as “the hardest hit” by anti-Semitic offences.
One of the incidents reported by Raskin was the vandalism of a car carrying a hanukkia (Jewish religious symbol) on its roof that was travelling around the island in celebration of the holiday Hanukka. Two of the car’s windows were broken.
In another incident, the chief rabbi wrote of a large hanukkia that had been placed in Limassol, which was “completely destroyed”.
Raskin also referred to the time when dozens of police officers had to surround the Chabad House and close off roads near by after reports came in of a potential attack on the building. The threat came from a planned protest against the Israeli offensive on Gaza last month. The protest finished without incident and none of the protestors got near the House.
Other attacks reported by Raskin included eggs and stones being thrown as well as “verbal assaults against the Jewish community by telephone”.
“We received phone calls in which people accused us of killing innocent people,” Raskin was quoted saying.
“I tried to explain to them that we are a Jewish educational organisation and that we have nothing to do with the Israeli government,” he added.
The chief rabbi said he met with local security officials who advised taking certain security measures to protect the building. He appealed for donations to fund the implementation of these measures.
“We find ourselves facing a different and totally unexpected horizon, which requires expenses that we were not ready for,” he wrote.
According to the Post, Raskin expressed concern for “the increase in violent attacks” and the “ineffectiveness of the authorities in Larnaca”.
“The local authority doesn’t recognise the situation we’re in… They say, ‘don’t worry, we’re looking after you’,” he said.
Raskin referred to another incident when two “suspicious-looking men” were seen standing in front of Chabad House. The police reportedly took 40 minutes to investigate the matter.
A source within Larnaca Police countered the allegation that the force wasn’t doing enough, arguing that Chabad House gets round-the-clock protection from police patrols.
“They want increased security, and we give them it within our powers. We sent someone to discuss their security concerns. They are on our list of ‘dangerous targets’ which means we have patrol cars passing by around 50 times a day. At least twice an hour,” he said.
“At one point, they held an event, so we put plain-clothed officers in the crowd for protection on top of the regular patrols,” he added.
Asked about reports of stone-throwing and violent attacks, the officer said: “The only thing that happened was they called saying that stones were thrown. When we got there, we found one piece of gravel on the ground.”
The source was adamant that the authorities were doing their job. “Whenever they need us, we are by their side. And we keep continuous patrol coverage.”
Meanwhile, Raskin attributed the rise in anti-Semitism to a rise in the number of Muslims living on the island.
He alleged that the 2006 Lebanon War saw more than 100,000 Lebanese refugees arrive in Cyprus. However, the actual number of Lebanese is nowhere near that figure, but more in the region of hundreds to a few thousand.
“They used to be a closed society. Now they are opening up businesses and restaurants and becoming a major part of Cypriot society,” he was quoted saying.
On the changing attitudes of Cypriots, Raskin said: “You feel it in the street. The locals are not smiling at us like they used to.”
However, Raskin highlighted that Cypriot society had more to lose than the Jewish community if they were given reason to leave.
“If God forbid anything happens, they’re going to lose more than we are. There are business people and tourists coming here all the time from Israel. The second it’s not comfortable for us here, everyone is going to stop coming,” he said.
He also referred to Jewish business people from Russia who invest a lot of money in businesses and real estate.
“Cyprus won’t want to lose that,” he added.
The Cyprus Mail was yesterday evening unable to contact the Chabad House or Israeli Embassy.
