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Romanian Jewish actress gets death threats on Passover

Maia Morgenstern, who leads the Jewish State Theater in Bucharest, posted an email on social media in which the sender threatened to murder her and her family, among other acts of violence.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

The Romanian Intelligence Service and police have identified two suspects who may have been involved in making death threats against Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern over the Passover weekend, Romania’s Digi 24 news reported Sunday.

The suspects’ homes in Timis County and Bucharest were being searched for further evidence, the report said.

Morgenstern, who leads the Jewish State Theater in Bucharest, posted an email on social media in which the author threatened to murder her and her family, assault her daughter, burn down the theater and murder all involved with it, among other acts of violence.

“Here’s what I get for the holiday of Passover,” Morgenstern said.

The email was sent under the name “Andrei Illarie” who claimed to be from a political party known as the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). It was sent to all official email addresses of the Jewish State Theater.

AUR president George Simion condemned the threats and said that the email was not sent by his party. He urged authorities to quickly find the perpetrator and punish him in the harshest way.

The author of the email appeared to be upset over an incident earlier this month in which Morgenstern reported on social media that an anti-Semitic insult had been made at a meeting with directors of theaters and public cultural institutions.

The email said that Morgenstern was being targeted for “daring to speak against my friend” and having made “such a fuss.”

Morgenstern, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, is perhaps best known by English-speaking audiences for her role as Mary in Mel Gibson’s 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ.”

In a February 2004 interview with the Associated Press, Morgenstern rejected accusations that the film was anti-Semitic.

“Mel Gibson is an artist, a director. He never imposed his religious convictions on anyone,” she said.