Following the deadly terror attack at the Copenhagen’s great Synagogue on Sunday, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director General of the European Jewish Association, called on European leaders to take action on terror against minority communities.
One person was killed and two police officers wounded by a terrorist at the Copenhagen synagogue in the Krystalgade area of the Danish capital. Reports said the man killed was a guard standing near the synagogue where members of the community were celebrating a bat-mitzvah.
Earlier, on Saturday, a man was killed when a gunman – apparently the same that attacked the synagogue- sprayed bullets at Copenhagen's Krudttonden cultural centre as it hosted a seminar in which Lars Vilks -- the Swedish artist whose controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoon sparked worldwide protests in 2007 -- was among the speakers. Danish police said later they shot and killed the man responsible for both attacks.
According to Rabbi Margolin, EU leaders ‘’have a tendency to bury their heads in the sand" and do not act sufficiently in order to prevent anti-Semitic attacks from taking place – both security-wise and through education.
"We demand that European governments and EU institutions increase security around all Jewish institutions," he added in a statement.
“European leaders need to support us in fighting the battle on terror in our homeland,” he said.
Rabbi Margolin emphasised that "unfortunately, the Danish government, like other governments across the continent, has not yet implemented the need to secure all Jewish institutions 24/7”.
“It is only because of the earlier shooting that took place in the Copenhagen cafe that police sent several officers to the synagogue, and they were able to return fire and chase the shooter,” he added. “But the fact is that prior to the earlier incident, there were no police in the synagogue, and the unarmed security guard could have not prevented the terrorist from entering the synagogue and causing even more deaths," he concluded.
The Jewish leader called upon Muslim leaders across Europe - many of whom promote mutual respect between all faiths, to speak out loudly and firmly against extremism and bloodshed committed supposedly in the name of religion.
Rabbi Margolin noted that in the aftermath of this latest attack, the EJA’s planned seminar next week in Prague, at which dozens of rabbis and Jewish community leaders from across the continent will meet, will offer training in basic self-defense and first aid.
"The alarms were already sounded last August when a Jewish school in Copenhagen was stoned and sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti,” said Rabbi Margolin.
“We call on European governments, as well as EU institutions, to heed our calls for the establishment of a pan -European task force in order to increase security around Jewish institutions and enhance education against the rampant anti-Semitism," he concluded.