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Community rallies round rabbi after menorah vandalised in Primrose Hill
Rabbi Yossi Baitz said sandbags had been removed around the base of the monument in north London
Politicians and celebrities rallied round a rabbi from Camden Town after a menorah he set up on a street corner for Chanukah was vandalised.
Rabbi Yossi Baitz said it “breaks my heart” as he posted photographs of the chanukiah bent in two and its electric lights smashed.
He added: “I promise to put this Menorah again every Hanukkah, we will never surrender to darkness.”
It had been erected in Primrose Hill, opposite the Pembroke Castle pub.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said sandbags holding it in place had been removed and it had been toppled over at some stage on Tuesday.
Oliver Cooper, leader of the Conservative Party in Camden, said it was “chilling to see antisemitic violence strike the heart of our community yet again.”
Im the Rabbi who worked so hard to put this Menorah as a symbol of light.
it breaks my heart to see it vandalized.
I promise to put this Menorah again every Hanukkah ,we will never surrender to darkness. https://t.co/DT8K0LgZnM— Yossi Baitz ????️ (@CamdenTownRabbi) December 8, 2021
The actor Tracy-Ann Oberman added: “Standing with you rabbi yossi. They won’t dim our light again.”
Police officers investigated the scene on Wednesday and said they were treating the incident as a possible hate crime.
This week’s incident comes a month after around a dozen swastikas were spray-painted around Camden, including close to Belsize Square Synagogue.
A man in his early 40s was arrested in connection to that incident.
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