The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE) is calling on the mayor of Vitoria to reinstate the Stars of David that have been removed from the medieval market
The Town Hall removed the Jewish symbols due to pressure from local residents who denounce the “genocide” in Gaza.
The FCJE has urged Mayor Maider Etxebarria of Vitoria to restore the Stars of David that were part of the medieval market set to take place this weekend. Etxebarria ordered their removal this morning following protests from a group of residents who deemed these symbols “intolerable.”
The Federation argues that the elimination of these symbols represents a second expulsion of Jews from the Alava capital.
Mayor Maider Etxebarria has, for the time being, remained silent following a letter from David Obadía, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain.
The presence of Stars of David among the symbols used in the Old Town of Vitoria has prompted a backlash from a group of residents, and the Town Hall has yielded to pressure, instructing the organising company to remove these symbols.
“This constitutes an affront to the Jewish community to recreate a medieval atmosphere while omitting the symbols associated with the Jewish people,” states the Federation, which is concerned about the reactions against the Jewish community.
The Jewish community in Vitoria left an indelible mark when they agreed to the public use of the cemetery in the Judizmendi neighbourhood (mountain of the Jews, in Basque), and their presence is remembered in two streets in the Old Town, where their symbols have now been successfully removed from a market that recalls the time when they constituted a very influential social group.
“In this gesture, it seems that Vitoria, which housed a flourishing Jewish community, is expelling this group for the second time,” asserts the president of the Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities in the letter sent to Mayor Etxebarria.
