The violence and death that has torn apart the West Bank, Gaza and Yerushalayim over the past month has been mirrored in an outbreak of anti-Semitic violence, attributed to the influence of Muslim clerics spewing hate, affecting Jews in communities around the world, including the United States. There were reports of attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Chicago Illinois, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said that there was no excuse for bringing the disagreements of the Middle East to New York City, where everyone is supposed to live peacefully together. He called in Muslim and Jewish community leaders for consultations, and substantially increased police protection for all Jewish institutions and neighborhoods.

Nearly 100 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in France, including the fire-bombing of a Paris synagogue and a Jewish shop in Toulon, and a near-fatal stabbing of a religious man on a bus in London. French President Jacques Chirac called the attacks "intolerable" and "unacceptable," and Justice Minister Lionel Jospin said police should crack down on "all acts and all attempted acts that are racist in character or anti-Semitic."

In communities across Europe police went on to their highest state of alert in a decade during the Yomim Noraim, but the incidents of random violence continued. At the same time, Jewish communities heightened their own security and warned their members to exercise greater caution. During the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, at least 50 incidents ranging from vandalism to anti-Semitic graffiti were reported at British synagogues. Militant Muslim demonstrators in London, Manchester and Birmingham burned Israeli flags, chanted slogans and distributed leaflets urging supporters to "kill Jews all over the world." Dozens of British synagogues have been sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti. Extremist Muslim activist Omar Bakhri Mohammed called upon his supporters to attack Israeli targets and murder Israelis at a gathering of hundreds of Muslims at a large London mosque. After the Friday prayers, the Muslim worshipers marched toward the Israeli Embassy carrying signs comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.

STABBING ON A LONDON BUS A stabbing incident took place on the upper deck of Londodn's 253 bus in Clapton Common, as it passed near the predominantly North London Jewish district of Stamford Hill. Eyewitnesses to the attack said that the victim, a young man wearing a yarmulka, was stabbed at least 17 times in the face, neck and chest by a 27-year-old man from Algeria. The bus driver and the other passengers hurriedly got off the bus as the assailant came down the steps between the top and bottom levels. The driver managed to get away and lock the bus doors, trapping the assailant inside the bus. The driver ran into a nearby bakery to call the police while the attacker forced the bus doors open and ran off. A large police net spread out over the area and within minutes apprehended the suspect. An ambulance driver who happened on the scene took the victim to a hospital, and he is now recovering. Germany has also seen a wave of attacks on Jewish sites in recent weeks. Those attacks, however, began before the outbreak of violence in the Middle East, and most were attributed to neo-Nazi skinheads. But just before Yom Kippur, a crowd of about 100 Palestinian and Lebanese demonstrators tried to storm the Old Synagogue in the German city of Essen, which now serves as a Jewish museum and Holocaust memorial center. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer condemned the attack and said German authorities would not permit Jewish institutions in Germany to be targets of such violence.

MEDIA BIAS BLAMED FOR TROUBLE IN ITALY In Italy, clashes were reported in Rome between young Jewish militants and right-wing extremists demonstrating in favor of the Palestinians. Italian Jewish leaders blamed what they said was one-sided media coverage for inflaming anti-Semitic feelings. "The Italian mass media have started a disinformation campaign that nourishes anti-Israel and anti- Jewish hatred," said Leone Paserman, the head of Rome's Jewish community. In Spain, rocks were thrown at a Jewish community building and synagogue in Madrid. Four windows were broken in the incident but no one was injured. Australian police are investigating two incidents in Sydney and Canberra, where gasoline bombs were thrown at Jewish targets during Sukkos. Also in Sydney, some 2,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched on the U.S. Consulate, where they burned Israeli and American flags and set fire to posters of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. A smaller anti-Israel demonstration was held in front of the Israeli embassy and demonstrators shouted anti-Semitic slogans. About 100 Arab students demonstrated in front of the Israeli embassy in Moscow. The same evening, an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat to the Chabad synagogue in Moscow. Police evacuated the building but nothing was found.

RIVERDALE ARSON ATTEMPT Four young men of Muslim origin from Yonkers, ages 15, 17, 18 and 21, were arrested by New York City police for an apparent arson attempt at a Conservative synagogue Erev Yom Kippur in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, triggered by the violence in the Middle East. Mayor Giuliani said that a bottle containing "very, very cheap high-octane vodka" and a burned wick were found near the synagogue's glass front door, which was shattered. Pieces of a second bottle and two pieces of a rock were also found nearby, he said. Giuliani called the incident an "attempted firebombing." The suspects are the first charged under the state's new bias-crimes law, which took effect at the beginning of October, and provides for stronger penalties. Police were able to find the suspects because two patrol officers had spotted them parked near the synagogue at 2:45 a.m. Sunday and recorded the car's license plate number. Police said the suspects told investigators they were looking for a synagogue to vandalize and stopped at the first one they drove by.

SHOOTING IN CHICAGO In the West Rogers Park Jewish neighborhood on Chicago's North Side, three men were attacked in separate incidents. Police say the attackers were Palestinian in two of the cases. None of the targeted victims were injured. In one case, someone in a dark- colored sport utility vehicle fired four to five shots at a rabbi who was sitting in his car in front of his house, shattering a car window. One bullet lodged in one of the car's headrests. Police had no suspects. The other two cases involved teen-agers accused of firing marbles from a slingshot at men they believed to be Jewish. The separate attacks occurred within half an hour of each other on a Thursday night. The rabbi who was targeted said, "I have two children currently studying in Israel. The tendency is to be more concerned for their safety than for the safety of ourselves in Chicago. This hit home in a very shocking and stark way." On the night of Yom Kippur, Temple Ohev Sholom, (Reform) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was burned to the ground. The fire was labeled an arson, and federal, state and local investigators joined forces to search for those responsible, but said it would be premature to declare the fire a hate crime. Temple Beth El, of Syracuse, New York, suffered severe fire damage on Erev Sukkos to its office and second floor. A burned Israeli flag was left on the steps of Congregation Emanu-El-B'ne Jeshurun of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sometime early Yom Kippur morning.

ST. PAUL SUKKAH FIRE Adath Israel, an Orthodox shul in St. Paul, Minnesota, suffered an arson attack, destroying its Sukkah on the first day of Yom Tov. Rabbi Asher Zeilingold thinks that the attacker "wanted to burn the entire synagogue." When firefighters arrived at the synagogue in the Highland Park neighborhood, the roof of the building was smoldering. While there was initial speculation about "faulty wiring," investigators soon noticed the odor of gasoline and a gas can cap was found. The building suffered "extreme smoke damage," according to the rabbi. Rabbi Zeilingold said that his congregants were "very disturbed and shocked by what happened." Adath Israel scheduled a community rebuilding party for the sukkah, featuring live music and refreshments. Rabbi Zeilingold said the arson attack represented an "affront to humanity," and that Adath Israel congregants felt "hurt, frustrated, but not bitter. We will fight the fire of destruction with the fire of warmth, enthusiasm, and love, to teach and spread goodness."