A group of Christian fundamentalists took down a public menorah in Moldova. The incident took place in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Monday, December 15th.
A mob of about 200 people, led by an Eastern Orthodox priest, smashed the large Menorah in downtown Chisinau, while chanting anti-Semitic slogans. The crowd then placed the menorah upside down on the heels of the statue of King Stephen the Great, a national hero of Moldova. The crowd proceeded to put up a large wooden cross where the Menorah stood.
The local police forces were present, but did nothing to stop the incident.
The crowd claimed that the Jews were seeking to dominate Moldova, kill Moldovan Christians and traumatize their children.
The priest who led the crowd stated that "We are an Orthodox country. Stephan the Great defended our country from all kinds of kikes, and now they come and put their menorah here. This is anarchy."
The once vibrant Jewish community of Moldova numbered over 270,000 prior to World War 2. Following the Holocaust, Soviet persecution and mass immigration, the number has shrunk to 12,000.
The incident has been condemned by both the Moldovan Justice Minister and the Moldovan Metropolitan Church , who promised to investigate the matter.
