Synagogue vandal in Racine, Wis. called it ‘Operation Kristallnacht’
Image by Getty Images
By David Ian Klein September 4, 2020
The trial of a young man accused of vandalizing a synagogue has revealed the thought process behind a neo-Nazi group’s decision last fall to accelerate its activities.
Yousef Omar Barasneh, 22, a member of the group known as the Base, pleaded guilty last month to spray-painting anti-Semitic messages and swastikas on the walls of the Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine, Wis. last September. He’s now awaiting sentencing.
The documents describe the Base as “a neo-Nazi group that aims to unify militant white supremacists around the globe and provide them with paramilitary training in preparation for a ‘race war.’”
The vandalism of Beth Israel Sinai was carried out after members of the group made a pact to ramp up their activities that week.
“A purpose of the agreement was to show the strength and cohesion of The Base, as well as to terrorize Jewish citizens so they would fear for their physical safety and refrain from freely exercising their rights to use and hold property in the same manner as non-Jewish white citizens,” the document said.
They called it “Operation Kristallnacht,” a reference to the 1938 German pogrom which ushered the start of the Holocaust.
“Imagine if across the country on local news, everyone is reporting on new Nazi presence,” Barasneh wrote in the group’s chat. “Our op will be a perfect fuck you to these kikes if we become terrorists.”
For his actions and involvement in the group Barasneh could face a maximum of ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000, he is set to be sentenced in November.
Despite his hostility to non-white groups, Barasneh is himself the son of Jordanian immigrants, Ynet reported.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
