Friday, March 21, 2008

From the Jewish Federation of RI:

PROVIDENCE – A car on loan to a young Israeli spending a year in the U.S. on a community service mission was vandalized Thursday night while the woman was participating in a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim in Providence’s East Side neighborhood. Nothing was taken from the car, and the damage was limited to a broken window.

 

The incident is the third in less than a week involving Jewish targets in Providence, leading Jewish leaders to urge caution and stepped up security among synagogues, Jewish day schools and agencies.

 

“At this point, we do not know if these incidents are related,” said Marty Cooper, director of community relations and security coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. “But taken together, they are a reminder to our community that we must be vigilant about security and we must look out for one another.”

 

Last Saturday, two firebombs were thrown at the apartment of an Israeli working at the Brown University/Rhode Island School of Design Hillel, and on Wednesday three youths were arrested in connection with a firebombing at a vacant synagogue on Broad Street. The Providence Police Department is investigating both incidents, but has said they do not appear to be related.

 

In Thursday’s incident, Hadas Naki, 18, discovered the damage to her car when she left a Purim celebration at the Providence Hebrew Day School. Naki, who is in the U.S. for a year under the auspices of the Jewish Agency for Israel, works for the Rhode Island Bureau of Jewish Education and lives with a host family in Providence.

 

“We are thankful that Hadas was not hurt and that the Providence Police Department is investigating this vandalism seriously, particularly in light of the previous incidents this week,” said Cooper.