Boxes containing pigs' heads have been sent to the Israeli
embassy in Rome and the city's synagogue, Italian media reported Saturday.
The package mailed to the embassy in the wealthy Parioli
area of the Italian capital was intercepted by police after other similar
parcels were sent to the synagogue and the Jewish Museum of Rome.
"Those who insult the Jewish community offend Rome. We
reject the intimidation outright," Rome mayor Ignazio Marino said in a
tweet.
The synagogue's package was delivered Friday just as staff
received an anonymous phone call claiming there was a parcel bomb on site, the
reports said.
Bomb disposal experts who rushed to the scene discovered the
grisly head, which they believe came from a slaughterhouse.
Police are analyzing fingerprints and DNA traces found on
the boxes, which were sealed with packing tape and delivered by the same postal
company.
"This is a vile and cowardly act which offends the
Jewish community and all Romans on the eve of the memorial day," Nicola
Zingaretti, president of Lazio, the region in which the city of Rome is
located.
Officials said that anti-Semitic graffiti were also scrawled
on the walls of a municipal building in the city.
There was no immediate word on who was behind the acts but
police were investigating.
A statement from the American Jewish Committee said the
latest acts were "a serious signal of alarm" and it called for
increased vigilance and more incisive methods aimed at reinforcing moral and
ethical values.
"The consequences of indifference towards such acts, as
history teaches us, can lead to a serious degeneration of peaceful coexistence,
and of the democratic fabric of society," it said.
The threats come just days ahead of the International
Commemoration Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust on January 27.
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