Yesterday marked the anniversary of the burning of a synagogue by a Christian mob in the Levantine Roman city of Callinicum—roughly contiguous with Raqqa, currently the capital of Islamic State—in 388 CE. David B. Green writes:

[This] was not the first time that a Jewish place of worship had been destroyed by Christians in the early decades after the adoption of Christianity by Emperor Constantine. . . .

Much less is known about the background to the arson than about what followed, but apparently the bishop of Callinicum incited from the pulpit against the Jews and their evil teachings and ways. The burning of the synagogue was the response the bishop’s followers deemed appropriate. . . .

[T]he secular legal authorities of the province ordered the rioters of Callinicum and their rabble-rousing priest to compensate the Jews—either by rebuilding the synagogue for them or by paying them so they could undertake the reconstruction themselves. That judgment was then confirmed by Theodosius, at the time ruler of the eastern part of the Roman empire, whose seat was in Milan.

Under pressure from the church father St. Ambrose, then bishop of Milan, Theodosius eventually reversed the verdict.

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.