DOZENS OF ARAB YOUTHS REPAIRED THE ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE IN SHFAR'AM

Youths repairing the synagogue (Photo courtesy of Jacob Saban)

Dozens of Arab youths came to the ancient synagogue in Shfar'am and repaired it, in response to the harassment by "price tag" criminals against mosques and churches in recent days

BY Yoni Gabbay
4 Iyyar 5774 - May 4, 2014

In response to hate crimes that destroyed Muslim and Christian houses of worship across the country, youths from the Young Leadership teams of the municipality of Shfar'am, together with members of Shutafut-Sharakah ["Partnership of the Ground"?] - a coalition of Jewish, Arab, and joint organizations for a democratic and equitable society working together to combat racism and promote coexistence ['shared life'] in the country - held a work project to clean and care for the city's ancient synagogue.
The Jewish synagogue in Shfar'am has stood for at least 250 years, since the reign of Zahir al-Omar in the Galil.
Since the last Jews left Shfar'am in the early years of the twentieth century, the keys of the city's ancient synagogue have been entrusted to members of the Jafari family who live across the street, while every Jewish visitor gets the synagogue keys from the family so they can look around the place.
As mentioned, the renovation and cleaning operation comes in response to the harassment of "price tag" crimes against Christian and Islamic places of worship.
Organizers of the unique protest called on the government and head of government to act against the "price tag" people. "We call on all citizens to respond to hate incidents directed against the Arab community in Israel by promoting tolerance," said Ari Remez of Shutafut-Sharakah.
"We demand that the Israeli government and its leader move from declarations to deeds and to act against the hate crimes that we have witnessed in recent days. We require that law enforcement authorities do everything in their power to stop the dangerous trend of escalation of violence committed against the Arab population ."
He criticized the Israeli police for standing helplessly against the "price tag" actions and the people behind them. "The shameful achievements until now of the Israeli police in bringing the perpetrators to justice constitute a dangerous message of assent by silence and encourage further violence."
One of the girls who came to renovate the synagogue said that "the relationship of residents of the city of Shfar'am to the Jewish house of prayer in the city is an example and a model for coexistence of the two peoples."
In her words, "All who worship in the city are part of our heritage, and come in a natural and clear way."

Source: HERE.