Jevgenius Kevicius prays in front of the chapel of Vilna Gaon in a Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, Aug. 7, 2007. Photo: Reuters

The Lithuanian government has come under fire for its decision to move forward with construction on the historic Snipiskes (Piramónt) Jewish Cemetery in the country’s capital of Vilnius and to convert it into a conference center.

In 1971, when Lithuania was still part of the Soviet Union, the Soviets built the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace on top of the Jewish cemetery after destroying the historic graveyard located in the neighborhood of Piromont, now known as Šnipiškės. The burial site dates back to the 15th century and was once the burial place for thousands of Lithuanian Jews, including revered rabbis, scholars, and community leaders, according to the Auschwitz Jewish Center Fourndation (AJCF). It is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Vilnius.

In 2004, the Sports Palace was closed and began to fall into disrepair. It has been vacant ever since and is often vandalized.

The Lithuanian government announced on July 28 that it will revive former plans, proposed more than a decade ago, to turn the now “unused and abandoned” concert and sports center into the Vilnius Congress Centre. “The territory of the former Vilnius Jewish Šnipiškės old cemetery located around the building will also be cleaned up and commemorated,” according to the announcement. The building also hosted the founding congress of the Lithuanian Reform Movement in October 1988 and a farewell ceremony for victims of Soviet violence in January 1991.

“When implementing the project, attention will be maintained both to the significance of this place for the history of Lithuania and to the memory of the events that marked it,” said since-resigned Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas. He announced his decision to step down as prime minister on Friday.

The goal of the new construction is to promote business and conference tourism to Lithuania, while also addressing the fact that country still does not have an A-class conference center, according to the government. It added that according to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, the proposed Vilnius Congress Centre could generate up to €133 million annually and create up to 1,200 jobs in sectors ranging from tourism, logistics, and event organizing.

Proposals to convert the site into a convention venue started in 2015, but they have always been met with backlash from Jewish groups because of the historic Jewish cemetery located on the land.

The decision to convert the site into a convention center is a “painful betrayal of Lithuania’s own past commitments and a desecration to the interned deceased,” said Pinchas Goldschmidt, the former chief rabbi of Moscow and the current President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER). The rabbinical alliance represents more than 700 religious leaders across Europe.

Goldschmidt noted in a statement that a special committee, established by the previous Lithuanian government in 2023, concluded that the site of the historic Jewish cemetery should not be developed further, and drafted proposals on how it should be commemorated with a memorial site within the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace. “We now urge the current government to honor those conclusions, which were reached through serious consultation and international engagement,” he said.

“This is not a matter of politics, but of moral and historical responsibility. Thousands of Jewish graves lie beneath that site,” Goldschmidt added. “Turning it into a venue for entertainment and gatherings is a profound desecration to their dignity. We call on the Lithuanian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to reverse this decision and recommit to protecting Jewish heritage and faith, as they have previously pledged.”

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, said the local Jewish community was not consulted regarding the construction and that it could cause disrespect to those buried at the site. “I fear this project will attract Jews from around the world – not for conferences, but to witness how a civilized democratic country desecrates Jewish graves,” Kukliansky told Lithuania’s LRT RADIO.

The American Jewish Committee expressed “shock at the Lithuanian government’s surprise announcement.”

“We urge the Lithuanian government to immediately reverse course,” the AJC said in a statement. The move “reverses an internationally endorsed decision of the previous government, which rightly committed to transforming the site into a place of Jewish remembrance and education. The Jewish group added that the “abrupt nature of this decision raises serious questions and casts a shadow over Lithuania’s stated commitment to Holocaust memory and Jewish heritage.”

“The decision by Lithuania to desecrate what is among the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe is a grave insult to the memory of the dead and to the conscience of the living,” said AJCF Chairman Simon Bergson. “Cemeteries are eternal places of rest, and this betrayal reverberates far beyond Lithuania. It undermines the universal promise to preserve Jewish memory and respect for the sanctity of the dead.”

“Lithuania once vowed to protect the Vilnius cemetery and honor it as a place of remembrance,” added AJCF Director General Jack Simony. “To renege on that promise now is a profound breach of trust — not only with the Jewish community but with all who believe in the integrity of Holocaust memory. This is not about stones and soil; it is about the eternal dignity of human beings whose remains lie there.”

“Vilnius must decide whether it will be remembered as a guardian of memory or as a force of its destruction,” added Simony. “We cannot allow silence to pave over sacred ground. This is not only a Jewish issue. It is a human issue. History is watching.”

The AJCF has urged the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to designate the Jewish cemetery as a protected heritage site under international law, and called on the European Union “to hold Lithuania accountable to its previous pledges and its responsibility to preserve cultural and historical memory.” The AJCF also called on the United States government, which has a statutory obligation to safeguard Jewish cemeteries abroad, to get involved and ensure the preservation of the Jewish site.

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas criticized the government for not consulting with city officials before making the decision. He told LRT RADIO that the city was already making progress on developing an alternative site for a A-class conference center, near the parliament building.

“The government announced – without any discussion – that the space would become a conference center. We weren’t sitting idly by; we were moving ahead with our own plans. Learning about this from a press release was unexpected,” Benkunskas said. The mayor noted that Paluckas reassured him, early in his term as prime minister, that there would be no changes regarding the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace on top of the old Jewish cemetery, and any moves regarding the building would include conversations with city officials.

Shon Weissman of Granada CF during the match between Granada CF and FC Cartagena of La Liga Hypermotions on April 20, 2025, at Cartagonova Stadium in Granada, Spain. Photo: IMAGO/Samuel Carreno via Reuters Connect

The German soccer club Fortuna Düsseldorf has backed out of plans to sign Israeli striker Shon Weissman, who has stirred controversy with past comments on social media in support of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, Fortuna Düsseldorf said in a German language statement on social media that it intensely looked into having Weissman, 29, join its club but “ultimately decided to refrain from signing him.”

The second-division soccer team was close to finalizing a €500,000 deal to have Weissman transfer from the Spanish club soccer Granada CF, local German media reported recently. After the news went public, fans of the German soccer team shared screenshots of since-deleted, online posts by Weissman in which the Haifa native expressed support for the Israel Defense Forces and its military operations in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas mass terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The athlete was accused by anti-Israel social media users of supporting genocide and “the mass bombing of civilians in Gaza.”

Weissman liked and reposted messages that said “wipe Gaza off the map” and suggested there were “no innocents” in the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz. Weissman’s agent, Boaz Goren, said that the posts and likes were not by Weissman but a social media manager who had access to his accounts, the Israeli newspaper reported.

Fortuna Düsseldorf at first defended Weissman. Replying to a post on X that featured a quote from Weismann, taken from Wikipedia, the soccer team said on Monday that “judging people you don’t know” based on a Wikipedia article “doesn’t really fit our vibe.” Less than 24 hours later, however, the team announced that it would not pursue a deal with Weissman.

The Israeli striker responded to the news in a statement shared on Instagram. He said a person will always stand with their country “no matter what” and that “loyalty isn’t up for debate,” especially “when your people are still burying their dead.”

“I am a son of a nation still grieving from the horrors of October 7,” he wrote. “That black day, when entire families were murdered, kidnapped, and brutalized, remains an open wound for me … It’s both possible and necessary to oppose harm to innocent people on both sides but I won’t allow myself to be painted as someone who promoted hate. If that’s hard for some to accept they should take another look at what happened on October 7th.”

He said in conclusion: “I am deeply grateful for the support I’ve received from people that actually know me, and I will continue to proudly carry the Israeli flag wherever I play.”

Weissman joined Granada in 2023 and his contract with the team expires in late June 2026. He began his career playing for Maccabi Haifa and has also played for Austria’s Wolfsberger AC and Spain’s Real Valladolid.

Kosher meal tray served on an Iberia flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid, marked with the handwritten label “Free Palestine.” Photo: Screenshot

Spanish airline Iberia has launched an investigation after a Jewish passenger on a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid received a kosher meal labeled “Free Palestine” — one of the latest in a string of anti-Jewish incidents amid a sharp rise in antisemitism across Spain.

On Monday, Argentina’s main Jewish umbrella organization, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), reported that a passenger on a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid received a kosher meal labeled “Free Palestine.” Kosher meals are prepared in accordance with traditional Jewish dietary laws.

According to DAIA’s report, several other Jewish passengers were also given trays marked with the initials “FP.”

“We strongly condemn this discriminatory act and have contacted the airline authorities to demand explanations and immediate action,” DAIA wrote in a post on X.

Grave acto de antisemitismo en vuelo de @Iberia denunciado en la DAIA

En el vuelo IB0102 Buenos Aires–Madrid, el pasajero Salvador Auday recibió su bandeja de comida kosher con la leyenda “Free Palestine”. Otros pasajeros judíos también recibieron bandejas con las iniciales… pic.twitter.com/2srkgOGIQU

— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) August 4, 2025

Iberia confirmed that several passengers discovered “handwritten pro-Palestinian messages” on their meal packaging during the flight.

The Spanish airline said the crew quickly documented the incident, assisted those affected, and that the captain personally apologized to the passengers.

“Iberia is conducting a comprehensive investigation, involving both its internal teams and external catering suppliers, to fully understand the incident and implement all necessary corrective actions,” the airline told The Algemeiner.

“We unequivocally condemn all forms of discrimination, hate speech, and any behavior that violates the dignity of individuals,” the statement read. “These actions are completely unacceptable and contradict the core values of respect and inclusion that define our company’s identity.”

This incident follows a separate controversy involving Spanish airline Vueling, which faced backlash after forcibly removing a group of French Jewish teenagers from a flight from Valencia to Paris, allegedly for singing in Hebrew.

The forced removal of the group has triggered political outrage in France, after their group leader was handcuffed by Spanish police and a government minister insulted the teens as “Israeli brats.”

The Spanish low-cost airline denied the allegations, insisting the incident was not related to religion but rather that the group was removed because of its members’ “highly combative attitude that was putting the safety of the flight at risk.”

Spain has seen a significant increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes and anti-Israel sentiment following the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with the local Jewish community facing harassment, intimidation, and assaults.

The Spanish government has also been one of the harshest critics of the Jewish state since the start of the war in Gaza, mounting a sustained effort against Israel in international forums.

In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities, Spain halted arms shipments from its own defense companies to Israel and launched a diplomatic campaign to curb the country’s military response.

At the same time, several Spanish ministers in the country’s left-wing coalition government issued pro-Hamas statements and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with some falsely accusing Israel of “genocide.”