Aj Congress Urges Lindsay to Release Report of Attacks on Houses of Worship

Concerned by the latest outbreak of synagogue arson and vandalism, the American Jewish Congress has asked Mayor Lindsay to make public the Police Department report on the epidemic of attacks against houses of worship in 1968 and last year. Assemblyman, Albert H. Blumenthal, chairman of the Congress’ Metropolitan Council, noted in a letter to the Mayor that a special unit of the Police Department had been formed in December 1968 to investigate crimes against churches and synagogues in the city. He recommended that the Police Department make public the number of incidents, the number of those arrested, the number of those convicted and the findings of the Department as to the age and character of those involved in last year’s incidents.

“Such a report,” Mr. Blumenthal said, “would enable us to assess the seriousness of these incidents and to make a determination as to whether there is a wave of such crimes, as many believe there is.” He said that disclosing the results of the police investigation last year, would also “reassure the public, help deter further attacks and serve as a warning to would-be vandals that they will not escape punishment for their acts.” On Jan. 28 at the Minsker Congregation, firemen found three cans of naphtha cleaning fluid and two cans of paint used to daub six huge swastikas on walls and doors. The fire was set in a stack of prayer books and rags piled up near the main door. On Jan. 19 a fire at Congregation Ahvath Torah destroyed five Torah scrolls valued at more than $2,000 each and damaged the upstairs where the rabbi lived. At the Flatbush Yeshiva’s Joel Braverman High School, vandals painted a Black Panther slogan on the wall of the four-story building and paint-sprayed the name of the Arab guerrilla organization “Al Fatah,” across a valuable mosaic mural depicting the 12 tribes of Israel.