World Jewish News

'Barcelona is a city where Jews have been living for one hundred years and of which they are proud'

“Barcelona is a city where Jews have been living for one hundred years and of which they are proud. We Jews will not leave our city,” a spokesman for the local Jewish community told The Times of Israel.

He was reacting to statements by Barcelona Chief Rabbi Meir Bar-Hen who said in the aftermath of the bloody terror attack in the city last Thursday that the Jewish community in Barcelona is “doomed,” because Spanish authorities do not want to confront radical Islam.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured victims after a van careered into crowds on Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s feted thoroughfare, as the street was packed with locals and tourists.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for that attack.

Rabbi Meir Bar-Hen said Jews shoule leave Spain, which he said has been for years a “hub of Islamist terror for all of Europe.”

“Jews are not here permanently. I tell my congregants: Don’t think we’re here for good. And I encourage them to buy property in Israel. This place is lost. Don’t repeat the mistake of Algerian Jews, of Venezuelan Jews. Better get out early than late,” he added in an interview to JTA.

‘’Part of the problem exposed by the attacks is the presence of a large Muslim community with “radical fringes. Once these people are living among you it’s very difficult to get rid of them. They only get stronger.”

He also said this applied to Europe as a whole.“Europe is lost,” he said.

Victor Sorenssen, a spokesperson for the Barcelona Jewish community, declared that the Jews of Barcelona had a vibrant past and a positive future and are an integral part of multi-cultural Barcelona.

“Since 1977, with the arrival of democracy, the Jewish community has played an active role in the social fabric of Barcelona. The Jewish community participates actively in social, cultural and religious life of the society and has relation with the institutions of the city, of Catalonia and Spain.”

In 2018, the Jewish community will celebrate it’s centenary after being reformed following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.

“In these hundred years, Jews from all over the world have been an active part of this reconstruction,” said Sorenssen, who wrote that he had been asked to speak out on behalf of the “crisis committee of the Jewish community” in response to the terror attack. “We are living a revival of Jewish culture.”

In Madrid, the Spanish Federation of Jewish Communities expressed in a statement “full confidence in security forces who work daily to prevent fanatics and radical Muslims from inflicting pain and chaos on our cities.”

Following the attack, Jewish institutions in Barcelona have been closed. They reopened on Friday. The Jewish population is estimated between 5,000 and 15,000.

According to Israeli press reports, Jewish communities across Europe are fearful of similar attacks.

EJP