 |
 |
Lib Dem MEP condemns arson attacks on synagogues
June 24, 2004 12:00 AM
London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford has condemned the arson attacks on South Tottenham synagogue and the Aish HaTorah building in Hendon.
Baroness Ludford said: "I am both saddened and angered by these latest attacks on Jewish targets in London.
"Such despicable, life-threatening vandalism can have no place in our society. It is particularly tragic that irreplaceable religious texts, including some brought to this country by refugees from the Holocaust, have been destroyed.
"I am pleased to hear that the police are pursuing a specific line of inquiry in the Hendon case and I hope that the culprits are soon brought to justice.
"That two such attacks should happen in London in one week is particularly shocking. These attacks are in line with the increase in anti-Semitic incidents reported by the Community Security Trust and the European Monitoring Centre (EUMC) on Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism.
"These attacks underline the importance of precise monitoring of the extent of anti-Semitism across Europe. Last year, I successfully led calls for the EUMC to publish its shelved report on anti-Semitism. I shall continue to press the Monitoring Centre to fully and frankly investigate the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the EU."
Notes:
1) Sarah Ludford has been Liberal Democrat MEP for London since 1999 and is the deputy leader of the UK Lib Dem group in the European Parliament, as well as being a life peer.
2) She first visited Israel on a Wyndham Deedes Scholarship from the Anglo-Israel Association in 1978 and has been a member of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel (LDFI) since joining the party in the early 1980s. She visited Israel three times in three years 2000-2003.
3) As a persistent and vocal supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Sarah Ludford has opposed calls to cut academic and trade links with Israel (eg ensuring the votes of Liberal Democrat MEPs were decisive in rejecting by 8 votes last autumn a proposal to cut off the EU-Israel Association Agreement) and insisted that EU funding of the Palestinian Authority should continue under conditions of reform and monitoring.
4) Sarah Ludford was the first member of the European Parliament's justice and home affairs committee to raise the non-publication of the EUMC's 2003 report on anti-Semitism, after which the committee successfully persuaded the EUMC to reconsider its decision - the report was subsequently published.
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats