***For the second time arsonists attack Crete synagogue - fire destroys archives, ceiling, computers

[breadandwine]

The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue was restored in the late 1990s after years of neglect in the wake of the Second World War. The nearly 300 members of the Hania Jewish community were shipped out by the Nazi invaders in 1944, and died when their ship was sunk in transit by an Allied torpedo.

The synagogue today serves as a place for prayer, a museum and memorial, and a library recording the long and troubled history of Crete's Jews. The synagogue was nearly burned to the ground on January 6, in the previous attack. That fire was set at around 1 a.m. early Wednesday, but a neighbor who was awake at the time noticed the smoke and called authorities and the synagogue's director Dr. Nicholas Stavroulakis. About 2,500 books, many of them rare editions, were destroyed in this and a previous arson attack three weeks ago.


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147912840&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[breadandwine]

1. Okay, who is the alleged Democrat, alleged progressive who unrecommended this?

Who thinks an act of hate and bigotry is none of our business to know about here on Democratic Underground???

Who did this but doesn't have the guts to show his face, in a cyber sense, by posting a comment explaining his hostility?

[breadandwine]

2. By my count, following a brief recommend, there are now a total of at least 3 unrecommends

to this thread. Who would do this? Why? Do you get your jollies out of suppressing the truth that there is anti-Semitism in the world? What is your next gig - denying the Holocaust?


What progressive could be against this thread?

[Codeine]

3. There's a fairly significant strain

of anti-semitism at DU that nobody will own up to.

[breadandwine]

4. Thanks very much for that comment, Codeine.

Now let's see if this terrible event is "important" enough for others to comment and keep the thread kicked or if it will drop into oblivion as some other reports on anti-Semitism have at DU.

[AlienGirl]

8. Not just here: it's everywhere; but I think in this case, everyone's too overwhelmed

I think most DUers are using most of their emotional energy on Haiti threads and most of their attention on Massachusetts threads, so this isn't getting much of either.

Tucker

[breadandwine]

9. Well, this has been going on for a long time, not just during the Haiti crisis.

Anti-Semitism has been shoved under the rug an awful lot by an awful lot of people regardless of ideology. People are always too busy when it comes to anti-Semitism. Accounts are always "overdrawn" when it comes to anti-Semitism. How many atrocities against Jews must there be before people are again "concerned"? Does "it" have to happen again?

[FunkyLeprechaun]

5. I recced

And I find it very sad that people are determined to destroy historical documents. (I work as a volunteer archivist)

[breadandwine]

6. Same with the guys who stole the incriminating sign at the gate of Auschwitz.

Turns out there was a Nazi connection in that theft (even though some DUers hastily rushed to say the theft was only motivated by money).

Holocaust deniers are like Mafia deniers:

"There is no Mafia and we'll kill anyone who says there is."

"There was no Holocaust and we'll kill anyone who says there was."

[Ghost Dog]

7. Complex history, the Cretan.

Early Cretan history is replete with legends such as those of King Minos, Theseus, Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus passed on orally via poets such as Homer. Crete was involved in the Mithridatic Wars, initially repelling an attack by Roman general Marcus Antonius Creticus in 71 BC. Nevertheless, a ferocious three-year campaign soon followed under Quintus Caecilius Metellus, equipped with three legions and Crete was finally conquered by Rome in 69 BC, earning for Metellus the title "Creticus". Gortyn was made capital of the island, and Crete became a Roman province, along with Cyrenaica.

Crete was part of the Byzantine empire, but then was captured by Iberian Muslims led by Abo Hafs Omer Al-Baloty<4> who established a piratical emirate on the island. In 960 Nicephorus Phocas reconquered the island, which remained under Byzantine control until 1204, when it fell into the hands of the Venetians at the time of the Fourth Crusade. During Venice's rule, which lasted more than four centuries, a Renaissance swept through the island as is evident from the plethora of artistic works dating to that period. The most notable representatives of this Cretan renaissance were the painter El Greco and the writers Nicholas Kalliakis<5> (1645–1707) and Vitsentzos Kornaros.

Under the rule of Christian Venetians, the city of Candia was reputed to be the best fortified city of the Eastern Mediterranean.<6> Jewish Armenians were the largest minority group living in Crete. The Jews were attracted during the period of the mass expulsion from Spain in 1492.<7> In 1627, there were 800 Jews in the city of Candia, about seven percent of the city's population.<8> In 1574–77, Crete was under the rule of Giacomo Foscarini as Proveditor General, Sindace and Inquistor. According to Starr (1942), the rule of Giacomo Foscarini was the dark age for Jews and Greeks. Under his rule, non-Catholics had to pay high taxes with no allowances. This practice ended when the Ottomans conquered Crete in 1669, after a 21-year siege of the capital, Candia.

During Ottoman rule, many churches and monasteries were converted to mosques. However, freedoms and rights were still provided. Church attendance was permitted. Still, many Christians converted to Islam. The city was surrounded by high walls and bastions and extended westward and southward by the 17th century. The most opulent area of the city was the northeastern quadrant where all the elite were gathered together. The city had received another name under the rule of the Ottomans, the deserted city.<6> The urban policy that the Ottoman applied to Candia was a two-pronged approach.<6> The first was the religious endowments. It made the Ottoman elite contribute to building and rehabilitating the ruined city. The other method was to boost the population and the urban revenue by selling off urban properties. According to Molly Greene (2001) there were numerous records of real-estate transactions during the Ottoman rule. In the deserted city, minorities received equal rights in purchasing property. Christians and Jews were also able to buy and sell in the real-estate market.

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete

Can anyone point me in the direction of accurate (unbiased, ha ha) sources? I'm very interested in the post-Roman history of the Mediterranean and surrounding lands and peoples.

[breadandwine]

10. Crete is a Greek island. Perhaps this is informative ---

History of Jews in Greece ---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Greece