- Title: Police do not need to be everywhere but where necessary, says Rabbi
- Date: 10th October 2019
- Summary: HALLE, GERMANY (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAX PRIVOROZKI, HEAD OF HALLE'S JEWISH COMMUNITY, ON PHONE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) MAX PRIVOROZKI, HEAD OF HALLE'S JEWISH COMMUNITY, SAYING: "We were reading the Torah at the time (of the shooting). We had started, most likely. The service started at 0930 (local) but the reading of the Torah was probably 11 or 1130 (local)." QUESTION FROM REPORTER: THE POLICE ARE ALSO BEING CRITICIZED "Two things are very obvious: the lack of security and the lack of protection when I reported that there was an armed attack on the synagogue and I yelled that..., and that there were 80-100 people (in the synagogue) - I didn't know for sure. But I was panicking. And they (police) were firstly asking me my name and the name of the synagogue, questions which I found at the time very stupid. And that is the least offensive word I can think of. Well, I think that is reason enough for criticism." QUESTIONS FROM REPORTER: WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR SECURITY NOW? "I already spoke to the Israelis today, with Israeli radio stations. I don't expect and I don't want the police to be everywhere around the clock, no matter whether it is necessary or not. But I want the police present wherever it is necessary. And to save their energy for the situations where it is not necessary. This morning I saw police outside the community centre in Grosse Maerkerstrasse (street in centre of town). There is no need, there are no activities the moment. Nothing is planned today. But still, there is police. We want police to be where it is necessary, same as after the terror attacks in New York. We were protected that day and night by the police. Whether that was necessary or not is another issue. But that ceased after a while. And I have the suspicion that there will be police presence everywhere in the next days or weeks or months. And then that will cease. It has to be consistent. It should be where it is necessary, and it should not be where it is not. And that should be independent of terror attacks. That should be a general thing, not case by case. It’s like I experienced in the former Soviet Union: you either fight against alcoholism, or for forest or whatever. We need to live our lives independently of single specific events, to think strategically, and not think only about the next moment." PRIVOROZKI WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 24th October 2019 07:57
- Keywords: Halle shooting Jewish community synagogue Rabbi
- Location: HALLE, GERMANY
- City: HALLE, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0IJVIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A prominent Jewish community leader accused German authorities on Thursday of providing inadequate security at a synagogue that was attacked by a far-right gunman as dozens prayed inside.
Though the gunman did not get into the building in Wednesday's attack, he killed two bystanders in a subsequent live-streamed rampage, which appeared to be modelled on last year's gun attack on a New Zealand mosque.
Most Jewish institutions in Germany's large cities have a near-permanent police guard due to occasional anti-Semitic attacks by both far-right activists and Islamist militants.
In a video of more than 30 minutes that the attacker livestreamed from a helmet camera, the perpetrator was heard cursing his failure to enter the synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle before shooting dead a woman passer-by in the street and a man inside a nearby kebab restaurant.
Two other people were injured but regional broadcaster MDR said their condition was not critical. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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