Archbishop Thabo Makgoba condemns anti-semitic attack on German synagogue

Archbishop Thabo today condemned the attack on a synagogue in Halle, which took place on Yom Kippur:

"Yesterday's attack on a synagogue in Halle comes as a triple shock to the conscience, and must be condemned with all the vigour we can muster.

"Firstly, it reflects the deeply disturbing rise of anti-semitism and extremist nationalism to levels unprecedented in recent European history, moreover in a country responsible for the horrors of the Holocaust.

"Secondly the attack is all the more shocking in that it was directed at a place of worship, and thirdly - compounding the evil - it was carried out on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.

"We grieve for the victims of the attack and pray for the survivors. We also pray for our Jewish sisters and brothers everywhere, for whom centuries of persecution make any such attack anywhere in the world profoundly worrying and distressing."