INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
the Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 people were gunned down at the weekend in an anti-Semitic attack, as more than 1,000 protesters gathered
nearby to make it clear the US president was unwelcome.Carrying signs that read "President Hate, Leave Our State!" and "Trump, Renounce
White Nationalism Now," the protesters gathered near the Tree of Life synagogue where the carnage unfolded Saturday.Trump -- accompanied by
his wife Melania, as well as his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, who are Jewish -- was to light a candle for each of the 11
victims, killed during Shabbat services.The controversial visit came after mourners crowded into nearby synagogues and joined street
processions at the first funerals for some of the victims of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in modern US history.The service for brothers
Cecil and David Rosenthal, both in their 50s, was the first in honor of those killed in what was an apparent hate crime.Services for
66-year-old doctor Jerry Rabinowitz and 71-year-old Daniel Stein followed in Pittsburgh, where scores of residents protested Trump's
visit.The president's trip to Pennsylvania came amid a mounting row over whether his fierce rhetoric at campaign rallies and on Twitter
has helped stoke extremism ahead of next week's midterm elections."It's just enraging that this type of hate crime could occur here and
that the leadership of our country does not denounce anti-Semitism and does not denounce white nationalism and does not denounce neo-Nazism
And that is the problem," mourner Joanna Izenson told AFP.Suspect Robert Bowers is facing more than two dozen charges related to the
bloodshed at the Tree of Life, which is located in the city's traditionally Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood.The 46-six-year-old
reportedly told police after his capture, "I just want to kill Jews," having claimed on social media that Jews were helping transport
caravans of refugees from Central America into the United States, calling the migrants "invaders."The caravans are a favorite target of the
president, and he has called a group of several thousand impoverished mainly Honduran migrants currently attempting to walk north to the
United States "an invasion."'Beautiful tribute'Friends and strangers alike packed the Rodef Shalom temple, a 25-minute walk from the Tree of
Life, for the Rosenthals' funeral, which took place under tight security.After the service, mourners spilled out onto the street, some of
them sobbing and clasping each other.The brothers' caskets were placed in two hearses and driven away, with a sheriff's car leading the
procession."It was tragic, it was sad -- it was a beautiful tribute to two wonderful, loving, innocent men," said Paul Taylor, a Catholic
priest who attended the service, which he said was "standing room only."Another mourner, a retired teacher who only gave her first name
Nancy, said: "I was finally able to cry."Later in the day, dozens of mourners walked behind the hearse carrying the remains of Rabinowitz in
Squirrel Hill, according to footage posted on social media.Meanwhile, protesters gathered near the Tree of Life synagogue to vent their
anger."Saturday's violence was a direct culmination of your influence," said one organizer, reading from an open letter sent to
Trump."President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully renounce white nationalism."Jeffrey Myers, a rabbi who was present
when the attack started, told CNN, said: "The president of the United States is always welcome."But protesters disagreed."I think it's
more divisive than uniting," 57-year-old librarian Nonie Heystek said of Trump's visit.'Christian rabbi'The Pittsburgh shooting spree came
in the same week that authorities arrested an ardent Trump supporter from Florida on suspicion of mailing more than a dozen homemade bombs
to opponents and critics of the president.The incidents have led to accusations that Trump has fanned violence through almost daily tweets
and speeches lambasting illegal immigrants, political opponents and journalists in divisive language.Trump has struck back in typically
robust fashion, arguing that critical journalists were in fact the ones feeding extremism across the country."There is great anger in our
Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news," Trump tweeted.Trump's Pittsburgh visit is not the only
element of the administration's response to the massacre that has been a source of controversy
behalf of the area's Jewish community.Instead of opening with prayers for the 11 victims of the Tree of Life shooting, Loren Jacobs
praised Jesus Christ and then offered prayers for four Republican candidates.Jacobs later offered words for the dead in the form of a prayer
to Jesus Christ, without naming any of them.Jews expressed outrage over social media, describing Jacobs' appearance as an "insulting
political stunt" and blasting Pence as a "Christian supremacist."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
