Latest news with #JewishTourists
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Anger in UK after stone cross disassembled to create Star of David
Anger in UK after stone cross disassembled to create Star of David NewsFeed A group of reportedly Jewish tourists sparked anger in the UK after dismantling a hillside cross made of stones to create a Star of David. Local media in Wales report residents have reassembled the cross they say had been there for 50 years. Video Duration 02 minutes 14 seconds 02:14 Video Duration 02 minutes 06 seconds 02:06 Video Duration 01 minutes 03 seconds 01:03 Video Duration 00 minutes 19 seconds 00:19 Video Duration 01 minutes 14 seconds 01:14 Video Duration 02 minutes 22 seconds 02:22 Video Duration 01 minutes 52 seconds 01:52
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Cars belonging to Jewish tourists from Britain are covered in 'Free Palestine' graffiti in Alpine town
Cars belonging to Jewish tourists were daubed with 'Free Palestine ' graffiti in a French Alpine town. The incident occurred in the village of Châtel in the northern part of the French Alps, near the Swiss border. Some nine vehicles belonging to a group of strictly Orthodox Jews, some of whom were from Stamford Hill in London, were reportedly vandalised with the spray paint. The group was on holiday in the picturesque Haute-Savoie region when their vehicles were defaced overnight. It is understood that local authorities have opened an investigation into the incident and are reviewing CCTV in an effort to identify who is responsible. Dozens of strictly Orthodox families from Europe are on holiday in the French mountain village, reported Ynet. One Jewish man who had his car defaced was from Vienna. He told the Israeli outlet: 'It's a horrifying feeling, and the police are not taking the case seriously.' It comes amid what Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, has called an 'enormous wave of antisemitism' across Europe, 'something not seen since the last century, with the rise of Nazism.' Several groups of Jewish tourists have encountered hostility while travelling this summer. In July, dozens of French-Jewish students aged between 10 and 15 and several adults were kicked off Vueling flight V8166 as it waited on the tarmac at Valencia for 'unruly behaviour'. The expulsion of the 44 students amid reports they were endangering the safety of the flight sparked a row, with the carrier coming under fire for alleged anti-Semitism. The holiday camp the children were flying with accused Vueling of 'brutality' as footage emerged showing their adult group leader being detained with handcuffs by Spanish police. In July, a Jewish man claimed he and his six-year-old son were attacked at a motorway service area by an enraged pro-Palestinian crowd. They were both wearing traditional Jewish kippahs and attracted the attention of people at the services near Lainate on the main Milan-Lagi motorway. In the clip which was later uploaded to social media, a group of people can be heard shouting in Italian 'Palestina Libera '(Free Palestine)' and 'Go back home'. Others also shout in Italian 'Assassini' (murderers) while another adds: 'This isn't Gaza, here is Italy' and another can be heard shouting: 'You will go to hell sooner or later'. In interviews with Italian media he claimed to have been pushed to the floor and then kicked with the crowd demanding he delete the video. And in Greece, Israelis travelling on the Crown Iris cruise ship have been forced to leave Greek islands after being met with hundreds of pro-Palestine protestors demonstrating against their arrival. Anti-war protesters on Greece's Cycladic island of Syros were the first to hold a furious demonstration against the docking of the cruise ship containing tourists on July 22. Some 1,700 Israeli nationals, including between 300 to 400 children, were prevented from disembarking at Ermoupoli and were instead diverted to the Port of Limassol in Cyprus. Protestors clashed with riot police in separate demonstrations against the arrival of more Israelis on the Greek islands of Rhodes and Crete in the following days. In June, five Jewish sites including three synagogues and France's Holocaust Memorial were vandalised with green paint in the Marais district in central Paris. On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to punish those who felled a tree planted in memory of a Jewish man who was tortured and murdered in 2006. The olive tree was planted in 2011 in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped by a gang of 20 young people and tortured to death on a housing estate in Bagneux, in the southern suburbs of the French capital. 'Every effort will be made to punish this act of hatred,' Macron wrote on X after the tree was cut down, probably with a chainsaw. 'In the face of antisemitism, the Republic is always uncompromising,' he added. 'The nation will not forget this son of France who died because he was Jewish.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Moment Jewish holidaymakers dismantle hillside Christian cross and use stones to create giant Star of David instead
A group of Jewish tourists were filmed dismantling a landmark cross on a Welsh hillside and using the stones to create a giant Star of David in its place. The 60ft long cross made from loose stones is believed to have been in place for at least 50 years on the hill below the Great Orme summit in Llandudno, north Wales, a popular tourist spot, and is widely known locally. So when footage emerged that appeared to show a group of young people, some apparently wearing traditional kippah headcaps, removing stones from a long-standing Christian symbol, many were furious. A video posted on a local Facebook group purporting to have been filmed last Friday showed a small group kicking at stones that made up the outline of the cross. It then shows some of the youngsters using the stones from the cross to make an alternative piece of religious iconography further along the hillside: a Star of David, the symbol of the Jewish faith. The episode happened near the summit of the 679ft high limestone headland, which has panoramic views of Snowdonia, Anglesey, the Isle of Man, Blackpool and the Lake District. The clip showed the group still working on their version of the six-pointed star, a widely recognised symbol of Jewish identity which appears on Israel's flag. It is not known whether they completed it before leaving the hilltop, nor how many stones were removed from the cross or found elsewhere among the many that litter the hillside. Adults who appeared to be with the party that comprised the youths involved are said to have looked on while they moved the stones without interceding. The incident led to uproar among some locals, with many taking to social media to slam the destruction of the cross on the grass hillside, which is popularly known as 'The Hill of Names' because families also often use the rocks to spell out the names of loved ones who have died. The Facebook user who posted the video stated in his post: 'Sorry… but this cross has been on the Orme for years… show respect to any religion.' Locals responded by describing it as 'disgraceful' and 'shocking' in comments on his post, while others accused those responsible of having 'no respect' for the Christian landmark. Another said: 'If a Christian dismantled a Star of David to build a cross, we would be put in prison and face hate crimes!!...absolutely DISGUSTING!!!' As news of the damage spread, locals went to the hillside and restored the stones to their original positions and by the end of the weekend, the cross was back in place, and the six-point star had gone. Scott Puddey, who helped restore the cross, said: 'I've just been up the Orme and thankfully normal service has been restored. I just finished off the last couple of corners just to make sure, as someone has already cleared most of it. 'I helped restore the cross not for any religious purpose, just that it's been a part of Llandudno for over 50 years and looked after by locals and holidaymakers alike.' The Facebook user who posted the video stated in his post: 'Sorry… but this cross has been on the Orme for years… show respect to any religion' Another added: 'Glad the cross has been restored, it's been there longer than I can remember, well done to whoever restored it.' North Wales Live reported another local man saying: 'I am a white British Muslim who lives happily in Llandudno and a large part of my life in Gwynedd. 'This is not only disrespectful, but as that cross has been there a long time, (it) has become part of the landscape.' Another added: 'I've got no issue with other people seeing a symbol and being inspired to add their own, but destroying one symbol to add another is such an unbelievably poor choice.' Some feared the incident would unfairly stir up anger and prejudice against Orthodox Jewish people who had been 'happily visiting for well over 100 years'. One person said that Llandudno's heritage included many 'lovely Jewish families' and that they 'would certainly have something to say about this'. Another Facebook user commented: 'These people do not represent Judaism or Israel any more than football hooligans abroad represent Christianity or Britain. Have Jewish friends in Israel that get irritated by people like this.' Others said it was a shame that the actions of a small minority had caused reputational damage in a town with a long history of Jewish residents and visitors. Professor Nathan Abrams, who has worked to uncover and document stories of Jewish history and heritage in north west Wales, said: 'These actions, if verified, have been committed by a tiny minority of Jews and should not be allowed to obscure the long history of Jews visiting and living in Llandudno that dates back over a hundred years. 'Llandudno has and continues to have a fascinating Jewish heritage, which we are continuing to explore. 'However, these actions in no way justify the outpouring of anti-Semitic prejudice I have read on Facebook, and it didn't take much to reveal the depth of prejudice bubbling beneath the surface.' It's unclear who made up the group involved. The cross is the biggest and most prominent of a number of designs on the hillside made up of stones from a nearby quarry and is thought to have been first constructed in the 1960s or early seventies.
