France / 24-09-2012
Antisemitic inscriptions were written Saturday afternoon on the front of the temple in De Minimes St. in Blois
Blois - “We cannot to let it happen this is an unbearable insult to men and women who gather in the reformed temple for prayer we are sad, hurt, distressed from the senseless violence that shows no consideration for people whatsoever we cannot tolerate the violence and also cannot simply erase it with a sponge […] my task is not to denounce the culprit but to recall the violent atmosphere that injures the human dignity and brings shame to the republic.
Still intensely excited, two days after having discovered the vandalism on his church in De Minimes St. in Blois, Father Andras Kotashi explained that he was not there Saturday afternoon, when the words “Jew” “Dirty Jew”, two swastikas and Omar were written on his church walls. After seeing that, the police asked not to touch the inscriptions before the forensic department technicians arrived. It was painful for the priest.
“On Sunday morning, whoever came for the prayer saw the inscriptions. Some of the people were scared, paralyzed. I, I was very hurt for not being able to spare people this sight although I wanted to […] this is a place where many people pass, the children are everywhere in our street… in the evening I could not wait any longer and erased everything…” he continues: “these inscriptions signify racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and swastikas… not only are they forbidden… we must never let it happen.”
After he was received by the governor, the priest announced happily: “A high ranking national authority will be present in our next prayer” and he “invites” every man and woman with good will to come and show their solidarity (as was already done starting on Sunday in the Catholic church), to break the silence of indifference “and to arrive also on Sunday to the temple in De Minimes St. in Blois. “Let every person and every organization, from every religion, show their solidarity and reject this type of things.” And in summary after two sleepless nights: “we cannot conduct ourselves by means of silence and camouflage”.
