Accusations were bandied back and forth recently between the police authorities of the Syrian president Bashar Assad and the rebels with regard to the burning of the ancient synagogue in Damascus. The government authorities claim that the synagogue was damaged and plundered during clashes between the army and the rebels. According to the head of the Museums and Antiquities Department of Syria's Ministry of Culture, Mamoun Abd el Karim, the synagogue in the Guber neighborhood was robbed of several artifacts already last year, and the government was unable to maintain any form of surveillance upon the building since the entire section was in the hands of the rebels.
A website identified with the forces of Assad recently circulated film footage showing rebel soldiers forcing their way into the synagogue, while the rebels counter that Assad supporters were the ones who set fire to the building after having looted anything of value inside. Syrian Opposition activists publicized last month other movies showing damage to the walls and roof which they attribute to bombing by the government forces.
The ancient shul in Damascus is one of the oldest in the entire world and a plaque by the entrance notes that it was built in 720 B.C.E., that is, over 2,700 years ago during the time of the First Beis Hamikdash.
