North London synagogue desecrated with swastikas

A swastika has been scrawled on the rabbi's lectern, prayer shawls and skull caps lie in disarray on the floor among defiled sacred scrolls, broken glass and torn prayer books.

A swastika has been scrawled on the rabbi's lectern, prayer shawls and skull caps lie in disarray on the floor among defiled sacred scrolls, broken glass and torn prayer books.

It is not a scene from Berlin in the 1930s. It was the sight greeting worshippers at a North London synagogue yesterday.

Members of the predominantly elderly congregation in Finsbury Park are still in shock after discovering the violation of their cherished place of worship.

Jewish leaders fear the attack, coming amid an upsurge in violence against orthodox Jews, represents proof of the tide of anti-Semitic sentiment in mainland Europe has reached Britain.

The success of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French presidential elections has given an impetus to far-right movements across Europe and, as Britain prepares for this week's local government elections, there are predictions the British National Party will take seats in some of Britain's most racially-volatile towns.

Already this year, synagogues have been firebombed in Marseilles, Strasbourg and other French cities. In Belgium, Germany and Russia, violent attacks on Jews have been reported. Cemeteries have been vandalised in several countries. But until now, such violent destruction has not been seen in Britain.

Jeremy Newmark, the official spokesman for the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, said: "This is the first incident in the country that resembles what's happening on the Continent. In terms of desecration, this is one of the most disturbing attacks we have seen."

The vandals forced their way into the synagogue late on Saturday night. They smashed at least 20 windows and ransacked the building, tossing personal possessions to the ground.

A can of green paint was thrown at the Ark, where the sacred Torah, or biblical scrolls, are kept, and the floor was strewn with sand. The Israeli flag, stamped on and covered in paint, lay on the floor yesterday beneath a pile of prayer shawls and ripped holy books. The rabbi's personal locker was ransacked and his prayer shawl and holy books despoiled. The ceremonial wine was emptied, the kitchens and function rooms wrecked and boxes of ancient books hurled around. Before they left, the attackers defecated in the entrance.

Some members of the Jewish community blame radical Muslims for the attack, while others blame far-right extremists. The man regarded by many as Britain's most militant Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, was banned last week from preaching at his local mosque in Finsbury Park, just a short distance away.

But amongst the debris are clues that the perpetrators – who left prints of their running shoes in sugar they had strewn around the kitchen – may not have been Muslim militants but the foot soldiers of the far right. Beside the synagogue's altar was placed the Union flag, taken from a cupboard, neatly rolled up and apparently left as a symbol of nationalism.

Police are understood to have ruled out robbery as a motive, since the synagogue's silverware was not stolen but scattered across the floor. "We will act swiftly and decisively against those who carried this out," said a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police.

The Community Security Trust, in charge of protecting British Jewry from violence and intimidation, said: "The scale and wantonness of the damage and the inclusion of the swastika shows the malicious intent of those who did this."

Figures collated yesterday show a seven-fold increase in attacks on British Jews since the beginning of the year. The rise is the biggest since last September, when there was an increase linked to the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

The latest upsurge, community leaders believe, is directly linked to spiralling violence in the Middle East. In London, a 45-year-old man was left with a broken nose and back injuries following an unprovoked assault in an underpass in Cricklewood.

Another man, Simon, a 30-year-old sales executive, said he narrowly avoided being run over when an angry driver, who shouted anti-Semitic abuse, accelerated towards him in a north London street.

He said that many of his friends had recently experienced similar types of hate crime. "A lot of people are taking off their skull caps and wearing baseball caps instead," he said.