The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed shock and horror over today’s synagogue attack in Poway, California, leaving one dead and several injured.
"This tragic attack, on the last day of Passover, is a horrific reminder that the flames of hatred still burn strong among some,” said the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
"An attack, on any house of worship, from churches in Sri Lanka and France to synagogues in Jerusalem or Pittsburgh to mosques in Christchurch, are an assault on human dignity and our rights as people of faith to pray to G-d,” Center officials added.
Today’s attack comes close to six months after October’s Pittsburgh synagogue massacre where 11 Jews were gunned down by a neo-Nazi, white supremacist. There have been at least three other attacks on synagogues – in Ohio, Georgia, and Montana – that were thwarted by authorities since then.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Simon Wiesenthal Center Founder and Dean, will be available for comment starting at 5:30pm PST.
For more information, contact Michele E. Alkin, Communications Director, 310-739-8063, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
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