Historic synagogue in Damascus damaged, looted

H/T Richard

Brietbart:

(AP) Historic synagogue in Damascus damaged, looted
ALBERT AJI and BEN HUBBARD
Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria
A Jewish synagogue in Damascus believed to be thousands of years old has been damaged and looted as clashes have consumed the surrounding neighborhood, a Syrian official and an anti-government activist said Monday.

Damage to the Jobar Synagogue, which tradition holds was built by the biblical prophet Elisha, is the latest example of Syria’s rich cultural heritage falling victim to the civil war between President Bashar Assad’s regime and rebels seeking his ouster.

Syria is home to thousands of years of civilizations at the crossroads of the Levant and boasts important cultural sites dating back to the Bible, the ancient Roman empire, the Crusaders and the arrival of Islam.

Before the Syrian conflict started two years ago, these sites attracted international tourists. Many have since been damaged as the conflict evolved into a civil war. Combatants have garrisoned in historic castles, turning them into targets. And street battles raged last month near Aleppo’s landmark 12th century Umayyad Mosque in the walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

One Reply to “Historic synagogue in Damascus damaged, looted”

  1. VIDEO – IRAQI SHIA MILITIA in SYRIA to protect a shrine :

    The shrine :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzDiFL8QTU8

    An RT crew who gained access Sunday to a group of Shia fighters found a well-equipped, trained and armed force of Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian militants in Damascus, Syria.

    The Abu-al-Fadl-al-Abbas brigade, named after a martyred son of Imam Ali, was formed to defend Shi’ite holy sites on the southern outskirts of the Syrian capital. The brigade is composed of mostly Iraqi nationals armed with soviet-made weapons such as PKM machine guns and RPG-7 grenade launchers that are ubiquitous throughout the Middle East. Officials have stated they are not in Damascus under the auspices of any state or organisation.

    The unit commander told RT, “We have more and more fighters every day. We train them to the highest quality, we train them in guerrilla warfare and how to use weaponry”.

    The shrine is dedicated to Hadrat Zaynab, daughter of Imam Ali, the first Shi’ite Imam and Fatimah, daughter of Prophet Muhammad. Unlike Iraq, where the Shi’ite population are the majority, in Syria sites such as Sayyida Zaynab are in danger due to Sunni majority. The official said that that the Iraqi fighters were motivated by the desire to prevent a repeat of the wholesale sectarian violence that followed the 2006 and 2007 attacks on Iraq’s Shi’ite Imam al-Askari Mosque. The attacks allegedly came from groups associated with Al-Qaeda, damaging the mosque severely.

    The unit commander explains, “extremists like Afghanis and Libyans and Tunisians and from all over the place are targeting the shrine of Sayyda Zeinab and this is to destroy Syria”.