Sfax synagogue vandalised a third time

 Screen shot of amateur footage showing the damage to the synagogue


A synagogue in Sfax, Tunisia, was vandalised for the third time on April 30, according to various reports. It is not surprising that in the run-up to the lucrative Lag Ba'Omer pilgrimage on Djerba, the Tunisians should wish to play down an antisemitic motive. Report in the Times of Israel:

Local media put the blame on teenagers from a nearby high school. The same reports suggested that the assault on the building was not religiously motivated, and that the students were just “having some fun,” according to French-language news site DesInfos.com. 

Though no longer in service — for lack of religious patrons — the synagogue houses many religious texts, including Torah scrolls.

The place had previously been vandalized in August of 2011 and December of 2012.

The Beit El synagogue in Sfax, Tunisia (photo credit: Rais67/Wikimedia Commons/File)

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Two synagogues in Sfax, Tunisia, ransacked