A Skopje synagogue and Jewish community center was targeted in an attempted arson attack on Sunday morning, according to the local Jewish community and North Macedonian Interior Ministry, which community members described as the first such incident in the country’s modern history.
A door and courtyard were charred by flames, according to photographs shared by the Jewish community with The Jerusalem Post. The damage in the pictures aligned with the fire seen in a video published on X/Twitter by Israeli Ambassador to North Macedonia Vivian Aisen on Sunday.
Alleged surveillance footage depicted two men climbing a fence before dousing a building with an accelerant. After they retreated to the other side of the fence, the suspects hurled a firebomb that set the accelerant alight.
The incident is still being investigated by law enforcement, according to the Interior Ministry, and surveillance cameras were being reviewed and witnesses interviewed to discover the identities of the perpetrators. The police officers that had arrived at the scene identified a fuel canister and fire damage.
In a statement, the Jewish Community Board urged the authorities to fully investigate the incident, but also thanked the Interior Ministry and other services for their timely response.
The board expressed shock at the attempted arson, with Board Deputy Head Rahamim Mizrahi telling the Post, “This is the first time that such an incident has occurred in the recent history of the Jewish community in the Republic of North Macedonia.”
“Ever since 1943, when our community was literally destroyed by the Bulgarian fascist occupiers, nothing like this has happened since then. Unfortunately, for the past couple of years – and especially after October 7, even in Macedonia, which is a pearl in the Balkans, with no antisemitism whatsoever – the mood has swung, especially among the hardcore leftists, and my guess is elements of the radical left and radical Islamist movement.”
Global increase in antisemitism
In its statement, the board noted that the arson was the consequence of the atmosphere that had been recently created in the country, fomented by an increase of “hate speech” and the conflation of Jewish citizens with events in the Middle East. Rahamim said that the rising levels of antisemitism in the republic were part of a global swell from which North Macedonia had not been spared.
“Besides being a pearl for so long, this wave of antisemitism didn’t pass us by either. Luckily, the Macedonian people know that we have lived here for centuries, and the radicals don’t have much support,” Rahamim stated. “What happened happened, but what’s important is society’s reaction afterward. The attack happened yesterday, but today, we have a large social media movement condemning the attack.”
Rahamim said that most Macedonians were against the arson attack and expressed support for the Jewish community in its wake. Among their supporters was the chief mufti of the local Muslim community. The community board said that the incident could not be dismissed as an isolated incident, and had to serve as both a lesson and a warning that the unity of the North Macedonian capital’s residents could not be taken for granted.
“For the last thousands of years, we have always lived in friendship and brotherly relationships with all other nations and religious groups. We lived separately in our religious traditions and faiths, but together with them, sharing the hardships and happy times that society shared,” said Rahamim.
“This recent attack on the Jewish community is an attack on democracy, an attack on the foundation of the Macedonian society, which is multicultural, multireligious, and based on mutual understanding, respect, and living together.”
On Sunday, Aisen said on X that the incident threatened the values of coexistence.
“I stand with the community and trust the authorities will act swiftly to bring those responsible to justice,” said Aisen.
The European Jewish Congress said that the incident reflected the vulnerability of Jewish sites in Europe.
“Such acts seek to intimidate and disrupt Jewish presence,” EJC said on X.
