A prayer service was held this month in a historic wooden synagogue in Istanbul that had been closed and out of use for more than half a century — but within days a wall outside the building had been defaced by anti-semitic graffiti.
The Daily Hurriyet reported that the İştipol synagogue had been reopened for a one-time morning prayer service on January 8 — the first time it had been used for worship in 65 years.
The synagogue was originally built in 1694 for Jews coming to Istanbul from the Macedonian city of Shtip. It was destroyed by a fire in 1899 but was totally rebuilt.
It is one of nine synagogues in the historically Jewish Balat district of Istanbul — but only two of these are still in use.
About 10 days after the prayer service in the synagogue, unknown vandals scrawled the slogan “Terrorist Israel, there is Allah!” on a wall outside the synagogue building. (See article and photo in Today’s Zaman“)
1 comment on “Prayer service in long-disused Istanbul synagogue (but then a nearby wall defaced)”
Must I be stunned,no I do not.As long as walls are defaced,everything is/seems quite normal.
A remarkable article worthwhile to read :Neue Zürcher Zeitung,Mittwoch .20.Januar 2016,
Israels Fatale Ausgrenzung von Ulrich Schmid.