Before Pittsburgh: The nine worst global attacks on Jewish sites

Most of the attacks were either not condemned as specifically antisemitic attacks, or their perpetrators were not found or were quietly deported.

Mourners visit a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue, a day after 11 Jewish worshippers were shot dead in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 28, 2018 (photo credit: CATHAL MCNAUGHTON/REUTERS)
Mourners visit a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue, a day after 11 Jewish worshippers were shot dead in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 28, 2018
(photo credit: CATHAL MCNAUGHTON/REUTERS)
The largest targeted murder of Jews in US history in Pittsburgh is one of many attacks over the last decades which have targeted Jews in synagogues and community centers throughout the world.
Below are the nine worst attacks we could identify that occurred globally, not including the numerous terror attacks on Jews in Israel, some of which have targeted synagogues.
Attacks in Israel include the 2014 Har Nof attack which killed six, the Mercaz HaRav massacre in 2008 in which eight were murdered and the Yeshivat Beit Yishrael massacre in 2002 that left 11 dead.
Globally, antisemitism has resulted in Jews being targeted in every country they reside in and Jewish places of worship being firebombed, spray painted, and targeted by bombings and shooting rampages. With the rise of Palestinian terrorist organizations and in the wake of Iran’s revolution and the increase in Islamic jihadist terror, Jewish sites have been targeted more often and in more deadly attacks.
 
These include attacks that purposely targeted children and sought out Jews to kill on Shabbat. Yet, most of the attacks below were either not condemned as specifically antisemitic attacks, or their perpetrators were not found or were quietly deported. The list reveals that in country after country, in the wake of attacks, there has been a tendency to downplay the anti-Jewish nature of the violence and not recognize the attack as targeting Jews.
 
The attacks are also linked to foreign governments, including Iran, and show that terrorists often reveled in their murders, even filming the killings or calling their handlers abroad, which shows complex prior planning. In many cases, attempts to kill Jews at Jewish institutions also resulted in the murder of many others, including non-Jews in the area and security guards.
Our report attempts to identify the nine largest scale attacks in the last 40 years.