The Jewish Community of Lisbon condemned vandalism against the Lisbon Synagogue in a statement.
“The Board of the Jewish Community of Lisbon (CIL) condemns the deplorable and hateful act of vandalism perpetrated against the building adjacent to the Lisbon Synagogue (the Ventura Terra building, a listed heritage site), which was defaced with graffiti extending to the Synagogue gate bearing the expression “Free Palestine from the river to the sea”.
It is important to understand that this is not merely an act of urban vandalism, nor simply a political demonstration. Indeed, this message, in this specific location, constitutes a direct attack on a Jewish place of worship, on the Portuguese Jewish community, and on the fundamental right of Jews – including Portuguese Jews, who make up the majority of those attending the Lisbon Synagogue – to live their religious and cultural identity freely and safely in Portugal.
The phrase “From the river to the sea” is neither innocent nor neutral. It is, as is well known, a slogan widely associated with the denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist. It is also widely used as an expression and vehicle of intimidation, hostility, and hatred against Jews around the world. When inscribed on a Synagogue, the meaning of this phrase becomes clear and unequivocal: to threaten, intimidate, and instil fear in an entire religious community.
This antisemitic act against the Jews of Lisbon comes at a particularly sensitive international moment: the images and events that took place yesterday in Israel, involving controversial attitudes and statements by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have provoked tension and outrage across much of the world, fuelling radicalism, inflammatory rhetoric, and impulsive – even extreme – reactions. Yet it is precisely at such moments that it becomes essential to affirm an absolutely non-negotiable principle: no political disagreement with decisions taken by the Government of Israel, or with the actions of its Ministers, can ever serve as a pretext for attacking Jews, synagogues, or Jewish institutions in the diaspora.
Conflating local Jewish communities, such as that of Lisbon – composed predominantly of Jews who are Portuguese citizens – with the political decisions and attitudes of the State of Israel, or of Ministers serving in its Government, is one of the most classic and dangerous forms of contemporary antisemitism. It means holding Jews around the world collectively and indiscriminately responsible for political events for which they bear no responsibility and over which they have no direct or indirect control. It turns a minority religious community into a target of hatred and intimidation.
The global surge in antisemitism that has intensified since the events of 7 October 2023 has manifested itself in assaults, threats, desecrations of synagogues, and attacks against Jewish institutions in numerous countries. Portugal cannot allow this virus of antisemitic hatred to become normalised in the public sphere.
The Lisbon Synagogue is a place of religious gathering, prayer, and remembrance. It is also a symbol of the Jewish presence in Portugal and of the country’s reconciliation with a chapter of its history that, for centuries, was marked by persecution and expulsion. To attack this space is to attack the values of healthy democratic coexistence and religious freedom.
The Board of the CIL trusts that the authorities will identify those responsible for this antisemitic act and will respond in an exemplary manner, with the determination and firmness that the gravity of this act demands, so that it is never repeated. The fight against antisemitism cannot be hesitant or relativised. There is NO political, ideological, or international context that justifies hatred against Jews or the intimidation and persecution of Jewish communities.
Portugal must remain a country in which no religious community lives in fear.
The Board of the CIL will not be intimidated. We shall respond to hatred with dignity, to intolerance with resolve, and to attempts at intimidation with an even stronger affirmation of Jewish life in Portugal.”
