Concern at virus spread in Morocco
V FIGURES SUGGEST Jews in Morocco are one of the hardest hit communities in the world by coronavirus.
The country’s Jewish community reported 13 deaths as of Monday, accounting for more than a tenth of all fatalities connected to the virus in the country.
Israeli officials who monitor developments within the Moroccan Jewish community said it was a disproportionately large share considering they account for a tiny fraction of the country’s total population of 36 million, JTA reported.
118 people in all have died of coronavirus in the North African country.
Local officials believe the surge in Jewish community cases may have been caused by a wedding in the coastal city of Agadir that was attended by several French Jews who had already been infected with the virus.
Some guests at that wedding then participated in Purim celebrations in Casablance, some 400 kilometres away, helping the virus to spread even further.
Fatalities in Jewish communities in Britain, France and Sweden have also been high relative to the overall population.
V POLICE IN Alabama are reviewing security footage and appealing for witnesses after two synagogues in the same city was vandalised with graffiti over Passover.
Swastikas and racial slurs were spray-painted last Wednesday evening, as Seders were beginning in homes across the city, upon the door and walls of Etz Chayim, a Conservative shul in the northern city of Huntsville.
It was followed on Thursday night by a similar attack on a nearby Chabadrun synagogue.
One Jewish group in the city said “the vicious and repugnant images” were a reminder that antisemitism continued to thrive, while Huntsville Chabad Rabbi Moshe Cohen said it was “an attack on all Jewish people”.
Huntsville police had stationed a vehicle outside the rabbi’s home over the weekend to provide an extra level of security.
The slogans and images that appeared at the sites over the first two days of Passover were produced in a similar tone and style, suggesting the same individual or group may have been involved.
Among the slogans daubed were “F**king k*kes”, “Gas Em All”, “Jew Scum” and “Holohoax”. Swastikas and the sig rune, a lightning-shaped symbol widely used in Nazi Germany, were also spray-painted.
As police said they were reviewing security camera footage and appealed
It is like a smack in the face as we try to celebrate our freedom’