India's 'lost tribe' of Israel hit hard by deadly violence
Members of the local 'Bnei Menashe' community offer prayers at the Beith Shalom Synagogue during a Sabbath at the Shavei Israel Hebrew Centre in Churachandpur District in India's northeastern Manipur State on February 18, 2012. PHOTO | AFP
A "lost tribe" of Israel in northeast India has been swept up in months of deadly ethnic violence, with at least one death, synagogues torched, and hundreds forced to flee, members say.
"Villages have been razed to the ground, with two synagogues destroyed and one death confirmed among the 5,000-strong community in India since fighting in Manipur state erupted in May," Lalam Hangshing, president of the Bnei Menashe Council, told AFP.
