Fitiris ‘unaware’ of city block’s three-year closure around synagogue

Justice Minister Costas Fitiris conceded to the House finance committee on Monday that he was not informed over the closure of an entire city block around the synagogue in Larnaca, which has been restricted for three years due to security measures. Akel MP Andreas Pasiourtides asked how long the measures would last, why the public were barred from passing through, what the effect on local businesses has been and what the cost to taxpayers is. He said shops in the area had “declined financially” and that the blocked passage “proves burdensome on daily life and traffic”. Fitiris claimed he had no information on the matter and would “reply as soon as possible in writing”. Pasiourtides reacted strongly, asking how measures affecting a whole area, and paid for with public money, could be in place while the responsible minister said he was unaware of them. The ministry’s budget was the subject of the session, yet no figure for the cost of guarding the synagogue was given to the committee. Reports of the meeting say police officers have been posted at the site around the clock for the last three years. The Larnaca synagogue is a Hasidic congregation linked to the Chabad movement and opened in 2005. It was the first synagogue on the island, and Cyprus had until then been the only EU member state without an active temple. The building is part of a Jewish community centre founded by Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin, who heads Chabad in Larnaca. In 2009, after incidents following Israeli offensives in Gaza, Raskin said the community required better protection. Larnaca police said at the time that the Chabad House had round-the-clock patrols and that patrol cars passed it 50 times a day. The area drew an alert on Sunday, when a suitcase was found in Ayiou Lazarou Street, some 100 metres from the synagogue. Police cordoned off the area and activated the security protocol, and explosives specialists examined the case, though nothing suspicious was found and the alert was lifted.