Swiss lawmakers press government on arson

Swiss parliamentarians demanded their government respond to attacks against Jews following a recent synagogue arson in Geneva.A coalition of 104 Parliament members from the country’s major political parties signed the petition demanding the Swiss Federal Council in Bern take stronger action to address attacks against Jews, synagogues and Jewish cemeteries. “In some cases these attacks were fatal,” Vreni Mueller-Hemmi, one of the parliament members, wrote in the petition. “It is important the considerable increase in anti-Semitic incidents is
addressed by the government and measures to fight racist assaults
should be enforced,” Mueller-Hemmi added in an interview with JTA. The petition follows an arson attack May 24 on Geneva’s Hekhal Haness Synagogue, which sent shock waves throughout the Swiss Jewish community. A Geneva police spokesman told JTA on Wednesday that the investigation into the fire is ongoing.