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Molotov cocktail thrown at Chicago synagogue
An arsonist threw a Molotov cocktail against one of Chicago's oldest synagogues early today, and police are treating the incident as a hate crime.The firebomb was thrown against the wall of Temple Sholom, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr., by someone who drove up about 2 a.m., police said, citing a witness account. It self-extinguished and caused minimal damage, according to police spokesman Officer Daniel O'Brien. "The offender drove off and made a derogatory statement, an anti-Semitic slur," O'Brien said, citing the witness account. The suspect was described as a man in his late 20s who fled in a black, two-door car, police said. The vehicle sped away south on inner Lake Shore Drive. Temple Sholom was founded in 1867, making it one of Chicago's oldest synagogues, according to its Web site. The incident took place several days after Israel launched an air assault in Gaza in response to Hamas firing rockets into Israel. Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago said it was hard to avoid "the likely connection" between the arson at the temple and what has been happening in Gaza. "Though no suspects have been apprehended and it's premature to unequivocally connect what is happening with this incident, it's hard to avoid the likely connection," Tcath said. Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League in the upper Midwest region, said the incident is cause for vigilance. "All reports indicate right now it's being investigated as a hate crime, that the temple was purposely targeted. We are hoping that it's just one incident and that there are not further copycat incidents in the future. We don't know if it has any correlation with what is happening in Gaza." Posted by: Steve White 2008-12-29 |
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