The Jewish Community of Lisbon (CIL) condemned the hate messages "cowardly written" on the wall and gate of the synagogue in Porto. In a statement published on the social network Facebook, the CIL says that in "Portugal there is no space or place for intolerance and hatred. The acts of barbarism and terrorism carried out by Hamas were and are inhumane and should not be confused with the Palestinian cause. Let us not confuse the terrorists with the Palestinian people. We will not be intimidated", the CIL stresses.
Considering the act of outrageous vandalism and trusting the Portuguese authorities, the CIL said that the perpetrators must answer "in an exemplary way for hate crimes before justice".
"This is not an act of freedom of expression. We are in the realm of an offense, of anti-Semitism, of anti-Zionism, and an attack on a religious community and peaceful people. The political exploitation of the massacre and cruel mutilation of thousands of people is simply abject and so we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community who are victims of this deplorable action."
Porto's synagogue, the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, was vandalized with inscriptions "Free Palestine" on the wall and gate. The inscriptions "Liberate Palestine" and "End Israel's apartheid" were found.
