NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The deadly white power rally that brought hundreds of armed racists to Charlottesville has increased both anxiety and resolve among worshippers at the city's lone synagogue.
Anti-Semitic vitriol and violence is on the rise in the United States, according to organizations that monitor hate groups and hate crimes, but the congregation of Beth Israel down the street from the Gen. Robert E. Lee statue hasn't felt this kind of fear, until now. Beth Israel President Alan Zimmerman said Nazi websites had called for the temple to be burned. But members also say that many non-Jewish people have come to show their solidarity.
As people arrived for Friday evening services, the synagogue was being guarded by three police officers and several more a block away in Emancipation Park.