WARSAW: Warsaw authorities detained a teen-ager on Wednesday after a historic synagogue in Poland’s capital was hit by a bottle containing a flammable substance, police said, in an incident that prompted condemnation from Polish political leaders.
“Police officers... in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency (ABW), detained a 16-year-old man, a Polish citizen, in connection with the incident that took place last night on the premises of the synagogue,” police said in a post on social media platform X.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, which took place around 1 a.m. (2300 GMT on Tuesday), Poland’s chief rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters earlier.
Jewish community officials said security camera footage appeared to show that three Molotov cocktails were thrown within a matter of seconds although it was not clear if one or more assailants were involved.
“We were informed overnight about an incident involving a bottle containing a flammable liquid being thrown onto synagogue grounds,” a police spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday.
Attacks against Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since war erupted in Gaza last October following an attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants and Israel’s subsequent military offensive.
The Warsaw incident left soot marks around a ground-floor window of the synagogue as well as a burned area on the grass below.
“Look there,” Schudrich told reporters at a news conference at the synagogue, pointing at the burn marks on the building.
“If it (the bottle) had gone 15 centimeters to the left it would have reached the window and possibly inside the synagogue. There’s a library there.”
“Here there’s no context, there’s no other possibility — it’s antisemitism,” he added when asked about a possible motive.
Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, said the synagogue was the only one in Warsaw to have survived World War Two and the Holocaust.
“Outrageous antisemitic attacks such as this cannot be tolerated today. The perpetrators must be found and punished,” Livne wrote on X.
Polish President Andrzej Duda called the attack “shameful.” “There is no place for anti-Semitism in Poland! There is no place for hatred in Poland!” he said on X.
Presidential cabinet member Wojciech Kolarski was quoted by the PAP news agency as saying that the president had reacted “immediately and unambiguously” to the news as “it is in the interest of many of Poland’s enemies to show Poland in a bad light.”
“The attack on the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw is a very simple way of building an image of a Poland that does not exist, but which our enemies can easily replicate in the international media,” Kolarski was quoted as saying.
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Suspect detained after Polish synagogue escapes major damage in firebomb attack
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Suspect detained after Polish synagogue escapes major damage in firebomb attack
- Police officers in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency (ABW), detained a 16-year-old man, a Polish citizen, in connection with the incident
- Attacks against Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since war erupted in Gaza last October following an attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants
Toxic smog blankets New Delhi, disrupting travel and plunging air quality to hazardous levels
- Dense toxic smog has blanketed New Delhi, pushing air pollution levels to their worst levels in weeks and disrupting travel
- On Monday, more than three dozen flights were canceled and hospitals saw an increase in patients with breathing difficulties and eye irritation
NEW DELHI: Dense toxic smog blanketed India’s national capital Monday, pushing air pollution levels to their worst levels in weeks, disrupting travel and causing authorities to impose the strictest containment measures.
More than 40 flights were canceled and several dozens delayed. Over 50 trains arriving and departing from New Delhi were delayed by several hours, authorities said.
Healthcare experts warned residents to avoid all outdoor activities as hospitals reported an influx of patients with breathing difficulties and eye irritation.
“New Delhi is a gas chamber right now. Air purifiers can help only a bit, so it’s high time the government comes up with some permanent solutions” said Naresh Dang, a physician at Max Healthcare.
Delhi’s air pollution levels have remained at what the federal government calls a “severe” level for the last two days, which the government says can cause respiratory effects to healthy people and seriously affect the health of people with heart or lung disease.
On Sunday, official index readings were over 450 at several monitoring stations, up from 430 on Saturday and the highest so far this winter season, as per data from Central Pollution Control Board. On Monday, it stood at 449. Readings below 50 are considered good. During periods of severe air pollution, the government advises people to avoid going outdoors as much as possible and wear N95 masks when going outside. Children, pregnant women, elderly and people with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions are at higher risk and officials advise them to be extra cautious.
“I have never seen this kind of pollution ever. Last year I came to Delhi, it was polluted. This year it is more polluted. I can feel the smoke while I breathe the air,” said Tiam Patel, a tourist.
To stem pollution, Indian authorities have banned construction activities and restricted use of diesel generators and cars. Water sprinklers have been deployed to control the haze. Schools and offices are allowing many students and workers to stay home.
But environmentalists say that the country’s air pollution crisis requires long-term changes.
New Delhi and its surrounding region, home to more than 30 million people, routinely rank among the world’s most polluted. India has six of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, and New Delhi is the most polluted national capital, according to a report from Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir earlier this year.
Air quality worsens in New Delhi every winter as farmers burn crop residue in nearby states and cooler temperatures trap the smoke, which mixes with pollution from vehicles, construction activity and industrial emissions. Pollution levels often reach 20 times higher than the World Health Organization’s safe limit.
But Vimlendu Jha, a Delhi based environmentalist, said that the air is not healthy even at other times of year.
“Delhi’s air doesn’t get cleaner at all, we only see it visibly from October to December, but the reality is that it remains polluted through the year,” he said.
Earlier this month, residents of New Delhi staged protests to express frustration and anger about the government’s failure to address pollution.
A study last year by medical journal Lancet linked long term exposure to polluted air to 1.5 million additional deaths every year in India.
“Deaths related to air pollution are not being counted. And the reason why its not being counted is because there are no systematic mechanisms to do so,” said Shweta Narayan, a campaign lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
Indian authorities in October carried out a controversial cloud-seeding experiment over smog-choked New Delhi to induce rainfall and clear the city’s toxic air. The experiment ended without rainfall.
More than 40 flights were canceled and several dozens delayed. Over 50 trains arriving and departing from New Delhi were delayed by several hours, authorities said.
Healthcare experts warned residents to avoid all outdoor activities as hospitals reported an influx of patients with breathing difficulties and eye irritation.
“New Delhi is a gas chamber right now. Air purifiers can help only a bit, so it’s high time the government comes up with some permanent solutions” said Naresh Dang, a physician at Max Healthcare.
Delhi’s air pollution levels have remained at what the federal government calls a “severe” level for the last two days, which the government says can cause respiratory effects to healthy people and seriously affect the health of people with heart or lung disease.
On Sunday, official index readings were over 450 at several monitoring stations, up from 430 on Saturday and the highest so far this winter season, as per data from Central Pollution Control Board. On Monday, it stood at 449. Readings below 50 are considered good. During periods of severe air pollution, the government advises people to avoid going outdoors as much as possible and wear N95 masks when going outside. Children, pregnant women, elderly and people with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions are at higher risk and officials advise them to be extra cautious.
“I have never seen this kind of pollution ever. Last year I came to Delhi, it was polluted. This year it is more polluted. I can feel the smoke while I breathe the air,” said Tiam Patel, a tourist.
To stem pollution, Indian authorities have banned construction activities and restricted use of diesel generators and cars. Water sprinklers have been deployed to control the haze. Schools and offices are allowing many students and workers to stay home.
But environmentalists say that the country’s air pollution crisis requires long-term changes.
New Delhi and its surrounding region, home to more than 30 million people, routinely rank among the world’s most polluted. India has six of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, and New Delhi is the most polluted national capital, according to a report from Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir earlier this year.
Air quality worsens in New Delhi every winter as farmers burn crop residue in nearby states and cooler temperatures trap the smoke, which mixes with pollution from vehicles, construction activity and industrial emissions. Pollution levels often reach 20 times higher than the World Health Organization’s safe limit.
But Vimlendu Jha, a Delhi based environmentalist, said that the air is not healthy even at other times of year.
“Delhi’s air doesn’t get cleaner at all, we only see it visibly from October to December, but the reality is that it remains polluted through the year,” he said.
Earlier this month, residents of New Delhi staged protests to express frustration and anger about the government’s failure to address pollution.
A study last year by medical journal Lancet linked long term exposure to polluted air to 1.5 million additional deaths every year in India.
“Deaths related to air pollution are not being counted. And the reason why its not being counted is because there are no systematic mechanisms to do so,” said Shweta Narayan, a campaign lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
Indian authorities in October carried out a controversial cloud-seeding experiment over smog-choked New Delhi to induce rainfall and clear the city’s toxic air. The experiment ended without rainfall.
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