Yad Vashem condemns 'appalling' attack on US Holocaust Museum

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial expressed shock on Wednesday over the "appalling" shooting attack on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. "Initial reports indicate that this shooting is the work of an anti-Semitic white supremacist, who obviously understood the symbolism of the target he chose," Yad Vashem spokeswoman Iris Rosenberg said in a statement. "The Museum in addition to being a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, is dedicated to educating against this kind of hate. His target makes this shooting that much more heinous." Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev spoke to USHMM Director Sara Bloomfield to express his support, and deep empathy, to her and all the Museum staff, she said. The shooting was also condemned by the chief Nazi hunter of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center. "On many levels it is a very symbolic target, and it is not surprising that someone who espouses white supremacy would want to attack an institution like that since Holocaust museums are the antithesis of this persons racist ideology and anti-Semitism," said Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the organization's Israel Director.