Advertisement

Danish Jews ask for police protection

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Danish Jews ask for police protection
Copenhagen's Jewish school was vandalised in August and the Jewish community fears things could get worse. Photo: Erik Refner/Scanpix

In light of last week's killing of four Jews in a kosher supermarket in Paris and an August incident in which a Jewish school in Copenhagen was vandalised, Jewish targets see themselves as "high priority" targets.

Advertisement

Denmark's main Jewish group on Tuesday called for police protection for its school and synagogue in Copenhagen after four Jews were killed last week in a hostage drama in a kosher supermarket in Paris.
 
"With the situation being like it is, we believe it's very clear that Jewish targets are a high priority for the terrorists," the deputy chairman of the Jewish Community of Denmark, Jonathan Fischer, told AFP.
 
During the Gaza conflict in August, Copenhagen's Jewish school, Carolineskolen, had its windows smashed and anti-Jewish graffiti spray-painted on its walls.
 
 
The incident took place shortly after a rise in the number anti-Semitic crimes in Denmark prompted politicians to organise a "kippah march" in central Copenhagen in support of Jewish people's right to display their religion openly.
 
Four people were killed in a hostage-taking at a Paris kosher supermarket following the bloody attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo last week.
 
Although there had been "no outright, concrete threats" against Jews in Denmark recently, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) considers Jewish and Israeli targets in the country to be "especially vulnerable", Fischer said.
 
A spokeswoman for the PET declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
 
"Developments in the Middle East, including the conflict in Syria, can also increase the risk of attacks in the West, for example against Israeli or Jewish targets," the agency wrote in a January 2014 report.
 
Around 8,000 Jews live in Denmark, most of them in Copenhagen and with smaller communities in the cities of Aarhus and Odense, according to the Jewish Community of Denmark.
 
Denmark's Jewish community is not alone in seeking police protection after the terror attacks in Paris. A controversial Aarhus mosque has also contacted police regarding threats it has received in the aftermath of Paris.
 
To limit the overwhelming burden on our moderators, it will not be possible to comment on this article. Feel free to join the conversation on our Facebook page.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also