How odd that this article contains no statement from the local Jewish community. Now, why could that be? Maybe they couldn’t find any to make a comment: there are only 22 Jews left in Syria; Islamic supremacist discrimination and harassment destroyed what was once a large Jewish community. When Jews got opportunities to flee dhimmitude and Syria in the early years of the twentieth century, they made the most of it. But remember: it’s Israel that is the apartheid state.
Meanwhile, Hizballah, true to form, blames Zionists for the looting. Islamic supremacists never, ever take responsibility for their own evil actions. It is always the fault of the kuffar.
“Syrian Official Says Historic Synagogue Looted,” from the Associated Press, April 1 (thanks to Lookmann):
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) “” A historic Jewish synagogue in Damascus has been damaged and looted as clashes have consumed the surrounding neighborhood, a Syrian official and an anti-government activist said Monday.
Damage to the synagogue, believed to be hundreds of years old, is the latest example of Syria’s rich cultural heritage falling victim to the civil war between the regime of President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking his ouster.
The synagogue, built in honor of the prophet Elijah, has long been considered an important pilgrimage site.
Maamoun Abdul-Karim, head of the Antiquities and Museums Department of the Syrian Culture Ministry, said objects from the Jobar Synagogue were stolen last year, but that officials haven’t been able to visit the building for months because rebels control the area.
Rebel forces established footholds in a number of Damascus suburbs and last year pushed into Jobar, a neighborhood on the city’s northeast corner. Since then, they have been clashing with government troops.
Abdul-Karim said there was no way for the government to protect all of Syria’s historical sites because there are thousands of them across the country. He called the looting “a crime” and “a big loss for us.”
“It’s the heritage of the homeland regardless of religion, whether it’s Jewish, Muslim or Christian,” he told The Associated Press by phone. “It’s the Syrian mosaic and the heritage of the people.”
An activist video posted online on March 1 showed a simple metal door on the building with a pile of rubble in front of it. One wall had a hole in it and part of a short wall around the roof was missing. It showed two plaques near the door. One, in English, read: “Shrine and synagogue of prophet and Eliahou Hanabi, 720 B.C.”
A second video posted on March 10 showed the building’s door ajar and damage to what appeared to be adjoining buildings, including shattered windows and hole in a ceiling. It was not clear if the synagogue’s main sanctuary had been damaged.
The videos appeared authentic and corresponded to other reporting by the AP.
An anti-government activist in Jobar reached via Skype on Monday said the synagogue had been looted continuously during recent months and was damaged by shelling conducted by regime forces….