Clashes erupted on Monday in a Jewish synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, after members of the "Chabad" movement - the largest Jewish organization in the world - attempted to stop construction workers who had come to seal a secretly dug tunnel beneath the synagogue illegally. The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday that "10 people were arrested after the New York Police Department was called to enforce a closure order for the tunnel by force while a number of young members of the extremist movement tried to confront police officers."
In December, the tunnel was discovered beneath the global headquarters of the "Chabad" movement, a well-known building in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, prompting synagogue leaders to call in construction engineers to assess the damage. In videos circulating on social media, a concrete cavernous space about 20 feet wide is seen beneath the women's section of the movement's building, according to Al Jazeera. Investigations revealed that the tunnel was built by some young members of "Chabad" over the past six months, believed to have occurred amid longstanding division and conflict between the youth of the movement and the synagogue leadership over legal ownership of the 100-year-old building.
A statement from Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, head of the headquarters, said, "The Chabad-Lubavitch community is suffering from the vandalism committed by a group of young agitators who caused damage to the Jewish temple located beneath the Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway on Monday night."
