Posters on IDF memorial
Jerusalem: Posters bearing swastikas hung on IDF memorial
Employees of Gonenim community center shocked to find posters with Nazi symbols, photos of Supreme Court judges glued to memorial for 270 neighborhood residents killed in Israel’s wars; ‘We are trying to recuperate, but incidents such as these take us back to the pain and sorrow,’ bereaved parent says
Employees who arrived for work at the community center in Jerusalem’s Gonenim neighborhood Tuesday morning were shocked to find posters bearing Nazi symbols hung on the IDF memorial at the entrance to the building.
According to Avi Nuriel, the community center’s director, an employee who came in at 7 am found posters with swastikas, photos of Supreme Court judges, excerpts from Psalms and hate slogans glued to the memorial for 270 of the neighborhood’s residents who were killed in Israel’s wars.
‘Despicable act.’ Posters on IDF memorial
He said the posters must have been placed there Monday night, the eve of Tisha B’Av fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
“I don’t think the community center was the perpetrators’ target; rather, they used the memorial in a despicable manner to convey a certain message,” said Nuriel, who filed a complaint with the police and notified representatives of Israel’s bereaved families.
Moshe Ela, whose son Nahum was killed by a bomb in November 1998, said the act “saddens and infuriates us. As bereaved parents we feel very bad about this."
“We are trying to recuperate, but incidents such as these take us back to the pain and sorrow,” he said.
The families, along with the heads of the community center, decided to a hold a special memorial ceremony on Wednesday evening as an act of protest.
“I call on all the bereaved parents in Jerusalem and all of Israel to attend so we may express our great anger together,” Ela said. “Maybe this rally will put an end to such appalling acts.”
