Arson attack on French synagogue

by Dave Keating | January 6, 2009 at 05:05 am

209 views | 16 Recommendations | 8 comments

A molotov cocktail attack burned a French synogogue. 12 people who were inside escaped unharmed. It is not clear whether the attack was a retaliation for Israel's invasion of Gaza.

France has large Jewish and Muslim communities which have come into increasing conflict over the past several years. Attacks by Muslims against Jewish person or institutions rose sharply in 2002 when Israel launched large-scale military operations in the West Bank.Since then a number of French Jews have emigrated to Israel.

Attackers rammed a burning car into a synagogue in the southern French city of Toulouse, officials have said.

The car, packed with a petrol bomb, was set alight and then pushed into the synagogue door by a second car.

The building caught fire but a local rabbi and about 12 people caught inside escaped unharmed after Monday's attack.

It came as the French defence minister met Jewish and Muslim community leaders to stress the Middle East conflict should not lead to violence in France.

Police said they were investigating the attack and had not made any arrests.

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Fripouille (not verified)

at 05:45 on January 6th, 2009

This is regrettable.

I sincerely hope that this kind of imbecility, be it perpetrated on synagogues by muslims or mosques by jews, does not continue.

Frnce has enough on its plate without its authorities having to fight a proxy war between the various components of its population.

Thank you

SOLARLIFE

at 06:30 on January 6th, 2009

Good report Dave, as you know from London experience, this France incident is to take very serious and is related to the death toll in Gaza. Many protests in France . Police wearing "bullet proofed" now . We are all the victims of the Gaza attacks. French newpapers say Hamas will attack Worldwide. Great progress Mr. defense minister Israel, for a few plumber rockets worldwide terror again. Europe has to fix that private war, we have economic problems ourselves and are not willing to pay for reconstruction of Israel hate war not to win.

tikun

at 07:18 on January 6th, 2009

GREAT BLAME THE JEWS once again. God forbid you point a finger where it belongs with the Terrorists. And might I add the the Jews deserved to be killed by Hitler because they were money hungry. Or the Jews in France or England deserve to have people beat on them because some one else is pissed off. What in god's name is this kind of logic. If you really despise Jews so much then at least have the ba*ls to say so. Instead of all this incitement.

For a professional you sure know how to stretch the truth. This is disgusting reporting and completely dishonest. This isn't a matter of opinion this is out and out right lies.

Blame the victim. This tactic has been used by far better facists.

lefty_liberated

at 07:27 on January 6th, 2009

I'm currently blaming George Bush both for being an Anti-Role Model who lazily categorizes everything into escalating good vs. evil for his own profit and for acting as a barrier to the UN cease fire.When you have an idiot in office whose family was deeply influened by Hitler, you get zero diplomacy and this psychopath, himself, murdered over 1 million people for his own profit. The man is dispicable and has no place politics.

tikun

at 08:02 on January 6th, 2009

He will be gone in days.

Paschen

at 07:38 on January 6th, 2009

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Karenke4

at 10:27 on January 6th, 2009

There have been several attacks across Europe targeting Jews in the last week as the Gaza crisis continues.

Assailants rammed a burning car into the gates of a synagogue in Toulouse, in southwest France, on Monday night. A Jewish congregation in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, also was attacked Monday night by someone who "broke a window and threw in something that was burning," said police spokesman Leif Nilsson. Neighbors alerted rescue services before the fire took hold.

Someone also started a blaze outside the premises last week. And on Sunday slogans including "murderers ... You broke the cease-fire" and "don't subject Palestine to ethnic cleansing" were daubed on Israel's embassy in Stockholm.

In Denmark, a 27-year-old Dane born in Lebanon of Palestinian parents is alleged to have injured two young Israelis last week, opening fire with a handgun in a shooting that police suspect could be linked to the Gaza crisis.

Yellow Guitar

at 15:55 on January 6th, 2009

New sets of rules seem to emerge out of this conflict constantly. As it stands, the rules run something like this:

1. Launch rockets at us and we will demolish you and your supporters in Gaza.

2. Demolish our bases in Gaza and we will launch global attacks on you and your supporters worldwide.

This is the new reality. Old rules fail every time a new conflict erupts, trumped by the new reality. Countries like France, Britain, USA, etc. are now part of the equation because Hamas cannot get at Israel in an effective way now that their base in Gaza is all but obliterated.

This is a war of attrition. Israel can win in the short run by knocking Hamas and their ability to make war back several years. But Israel "...stands on a hill," to quote Dylan, "running out the clock, but times' standing still." (Neighborhood Bully, 1983) Nobody seems able to win this kind of war, but it's not so much about winning for Israel. It's about surviving. I don't think we get that in the west. And while I understand the frustration and rage of Palestinians living abroad and the so-called 'logic' of their attacks on Jewish targets in Europe, it is still disgusting. Retaliation based on hatred, rage and racism needs to be confronted with backbone, determination and ruthlessness, or we'll all end up living in the kind of nightmare the Israeli and Palestinian people face every day.