Three Muslims convicted of arson after hurling firebombs at a synagogue in Germany were motivated by trying to bring “attention to the Gaza conflict,” according to the judge who convicted them on Thursday, Jerusalem Post journalist Benjamin Weinthal reported.

Several days prior to the firebombing, “Free Palestine” had been sprayed in paint on to the wall of the synagogue as well.

The two older attackers, ages 29 and 24, were given suspended sentences of 15 months in prison – which means they served no time – and together with their 18-year-old accomplice were ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

The original Wuppertal synagogue was burned down by Germans during the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938, but the echoes of the past seem to be growing louder. The German state has seen an upswing in anti-Semitism, as has the country in general.

One 24-year-old man told a court in Wuppertal that the group had carried out the attack in despair at violence in their homeland between the Israeli armed forces and Palestinians.


But while they wanted to “send a signal”, he said they did not want to set fire to the place of worship or hurt anyone.

Armed with home-made firebombs, the men approached the synagogue and threw the makeshift weapons on the night of Sunday July 28th.

They explained they had committed their crime under the influence of alcohol, following a celebration at the end of Ramadan. They wanted to use the bottles of diesel to direct interest to what was going on in Gaza at the time, the Israeli offensive. They said they weren’t aware that by throwing them they could burn the synagogue or injure other people.

“Two of the accused are from West Jordan, where nothing happened [last summer]. I believe this is pure anti-Semitism”, Leonid Goldberg, President of the Jewish community in Wuppertal, said after sitting through the court hearing.

“It was right here,” Leonid Goldberg says, standing at the entrance of a sandstone synagogue in Wuppertal’s Barmen district. “This is exactly where the fire started, where the objects were thrown.” In his mid-50s and wearing a gray suit, Goldberg, the chairman of Wuppertal’s Jewish cultural association, nods to security sitting behind glass at the entrance.

In the middle of the night on July 29, 2014, Goldberg was contacted by a private security firm: Three men had thrown bottles full of diesel at the synagogue. “Thank God that nothing more can be seen of the attack,” Goldberg says as he scratches his beard. The flames extinguished quickly, so the damage was manageable. “Following the attack, we had police here round the clock. Now, they are only here during the night.”

Goldberg points to security cameras positioned left and right of the entrance and explains that all Jewish places of worship in Germany are well-secured. The front entrance is almost never used – only for big events. “When that is the case, security personnel are here.” The security guard behind the glass waves us through. He must wait until the front doors are closed before allowing us entrance into the synagogue.

After we’re inside, Goldberg points to the windows – bulletproof from the outside, shatterproof on the inside. A connecting door leads to a cafe, kosher, says Goldberg, and public. Once inside the cafe, there is no handle on the door. You need a key to access the synagogue.

“For years now, our rabbis haven’t worn their kippahs in public as they go through Wuppertal,” Goldberg says. “Jews that do wear their kippah in public attempt to hide it by wearing a hat on top so that they don’t have to hear insults from young Muslims, most of all.”