AJC WELCOMES LITHUANIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENT
AJC welcomed on August 25 the Lithuanian government’s firm response to a grotesque anti-Semitic incident in the city of Kaunas. In a press release, AJC said:
A pig’s head with a carved Star of David was thrown in front of the city’s synagogue over the weekend. The shocked Jewish congregation, gathering for Shabbat services, immediately notified the Kaunas police, who are investigating.Lithuanian Prime Minister Andras Kubilius quickly condemned the incident and expressed hope that those responsible will be apprehended and punished.
“We stand in solidarity with our partners in the Lithuanian Jewish community, and share their pain regarding this grotesque expression of anti-Semitism,” said Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC Director of International Jewish Affairs. “The serious response by the Lithuanian government is deeply appreciated, and we join with Prime Minister Kubilius in his call to bring to justice soon those responsible for this hate crime.”
The prime minister’s political advisor, Virgis Valentinavicius, said, “anti-Semitic actions are deeply disrespectful of the long joint history of Lithuanians and Jews, a history in which there was a lot of good but also the tragedy of the Holocaust.”
In 2011 Lithuania will assume the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a 56 nation organization that in recent years has become a major venue for addressing the resurgent problems of anti-Semitism in Europe.
