Wuppertal’s synagogues had been destroyed on Kristallnacht. By the time the war was over, the 3,000 Jews living in this German city had been reduced to a community of 60. 75 years after Kristallnacht, the Bergische Synagogue began to burn after three Muslim men had thrown six Molotov cocktails at it.
The Jews of Wuppertal however have nothing to worry about. Judge Jörg Sturm found that the attack was not anti-Semitic, but had only been a way of bringing “attention to the Gaza conflict”.
It wasn’t anti-Semitism, but anti-Zionism.
The three Muslim men, two named Mohammed and one named Ismail, received suspended sentences and 200 hours of community service. In their defense, they claimed that they wanted to “send a signal”, but had not intended to set a synagogue on fire when they threw firebombs at it.