WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- New Zealand authorities have ordered increased security around Jewish cemeteries after attacks on such cemeteries in Wellington and Auckland.
The Sunday Star Times reported at Makara cemetery outside Wellington some 92 gravestones were destroyed at the Makara cemetery near Wellington and funeral home on the premises was destroyed/
Three weeks ago, 16 graves were desecrated in an old Jewish cemetery in Wellington, and anti-Jewish graffiti sprayed.
Minister of Minority Affairs Chris Carter called the cemetery attacks racist and said he would be asking Parliament to issue a declaration condemning anti-Semitism in New Zealand.
David Zwartz, president of the New Zealand Jewish Council, told the Ha'aretz News Service the 1,500-member Jewish community in New Zealand is upset by the incidents, but not afraid.
