SYNAGOGUES FIREBOMBED IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM

The Guardian - London ^ | 4/01/02 | Jon Henley

[goody2shooz]

Jewish leaders in France yesterday demanded urgent government action after an unprecedented wave of attacks on synagogues and Jewish-owned property around the country.

A synagogue in Marseille, destroyed by fire along with its Torah scrolls and other sacred books on Sunday night, was the third to be hit by arson since Friday, prompting the central consistory of French Jews to compare the violence to the Nazi-led Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, in Germany in November 1938.

President Jacques Chirac issued a call for "dialogue, respect and tolerance". In a statement, the president urged the government to increase police protection at Jewish places of worship and "employ every means necessary to ensure the perpetrators of these acts are tracked down and severely punished".

In signs that anti-semitic violence, apparently linked to escalating Arab-Israeli violence in the Middle East, was spreading in Europe, Belgian police said minor damage was caused to a synagogue in the Brussels district of Anderlecht when a petrol bomb was thrown through a window late on Sunday.

"We are living through a new and deeply dangerous period of anti-semitism, of increasingly violent commando operations carried out against Jews and Jewish interests," said Alain Jakubowicz, president of the Jewish community in Lyon.

"If anyone wanted a demonstration of the reality and the gravity of what the Jews of France live through, they have it now."

Late on Friday, some 15 masked youths rammed two stolen cars through the main gates of Lyon's La Duchere synagogue, and set light to one of the vehicles inside the prayer hall in what Mr Jakubowicz called "an act of war". The doors and facade of another synagogue in Strasbourg were badly damaged in another arson attack.

Also this weekend, a gunman opened fire on a kosher butcher's shop in Toulouse, a Jewish school was broken into in Sarcelles north of Paris, and a Jewish couple in their 20s were beaten up by five youths in Villeurbanne in the Rhone region. The woman, who was pregnant, was kept in hospital overnight.

A book published a fortnight ago by the anti-racist organisation SOS Racisme and UEJF, the Union of Jewish Students in France, described 405 acts of anti-semitic violence reported in France between September 2000 and January 2002. The incidents included insults, spitting, stone throwing, physical violence, racist graffiti, desecration of Jewish graves and arson attacks.

Many were recorded in autumn 2000, after the start of the second intifada in the occupied territories. But a new wave came after the September 11 attacks in America and the ensuing explosion of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The current encirclement of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat seems to have prompted this weekend's attacks.

"Most of these acts seem to be committed by youngsters of Arab origin who identify with the Palestinian cause but who don't really know what they're doing," said a spokesman for the EUJF. "But there's clearly a difference between that kind of kids' stuff and the organised, extremely effective and dangerous attacks in Lyon and Marseille."

France's large Muslim and Jewish communities have on the whole co-existed peacefully and government officials as well as community leaders have sought to play down the recent wave of anti-Jewish violence for fear of inflaming racist feeling. But Jean Kahn, president of the central consistory, said yesterday the French authorities "must take this new threat very seriously indeed".

The prime minister, Lionel Jospin, said he was "revolted by the cowardly and absurd" attack in Lyon which appeared "organised and premeditated".

[goody2shooz]

Lionel Jospin said he was revolted by the...attack in Lyon which appeared organised and premeditated.

You think these attacks are organised and premeitated? Gee. I wonder by whom?

[RangeRatt]

Middle Eastern Boys & Men Between 17 & 40? Nope, no profiling here....

[happygrl]

They'll probably set up checkpoints and randomly interrogate those who pass through them, being careful not to exclude the usual suspects like grannies, school children, and ballerinas.

[oldvike]

Actually, I was thinking that some smelly French people did the firebombing.

[Diogenesis]

Like slavery of children and women by Arabs, the UN has systematically avoided - and encouraged -- this.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

"employ every means necessary to ensure the perpetrators of these acts are tracked down and severely punished".

Oh, Good Lord, the French are going to have some more Jerry Lewis film festivals?

[Travis McGee]

Islam's gift to the world.

Islam is an insane death cult, and "moderate islam" is its trojan horse.

(France, are you paying attention?)

[Mo1]

Late on Friday, some 15 masked youths rammed two stolen cars through the main gates of Lyon's La Duchere synagogue, and set light to one of the vehicles inside the prayer hall in what Mr Jakubowicz called "an act of war". The doors and facade of another synagogue in Strasbourg were badly damaged in another arson attack.
Also this weekend, a gunman opened fire on a kosher butcher's shop in Toulouse, a Jewish school was broken into in Sarcelles north of Paris, and a Jewish couple in their 20s were beaten up by five youths in Villeurbanne in the Rhone region. The woman, who was pregnant, was kept in hospital overnight.

Hello Annan ... Hello United Nations .. ummmmm .. what do you have to say know ..

[goody2shooz]

I really don't think so but it is an amusing thought.

This whole situation can get out of control quickly and the French government will have corpses on their hands and the reality of murderous terrorists in their midst.

Maybe then the death penalty for capital crimes won't look so bad.

[RnMomof7]

Islam means peace..

[paulsy]

here are some modified UN flags, take your pick (i did these based on the first one you see above):

[samson1]

After French Kissing, what else of importance comes from that "little country?" The grapes from the wine are from America...

[CedarDave]

"Most of these acts seem to be committed by youngsters of Arab origin who identify with the Palestinian cause but who don't really know what they're doing," said a spokesman for the EUJF.

Another person (the spokesman) with his head in the sand. Of COURSE they know what they're doing. They're learning in school that Jews are to be hurt and Jewish property vandalized or destroyed. It's just part of their education. As they grow older some will graduate to even more violent acts, and may actually become young adult terrorists. An elite few may actually go to the middle east and participate in the violence there. (Unless we have an all out war, I expect these young terrorists will have plenty of opportunity to practice their trade there.)

[oldvike]

PLO terrorists don't firebomb empty churches. They blow people up with explosives. No, this seems to me to be the act of some left wing French people. Of course this is JMO.

[mv1]

"Late on Friday, some 15 masked youths rammed two stolen cars through the main gates of Lyon's La Duchere synagogue"

What about all the cheerleaders that posted on the thread about the guy that drove his truck into the mosque in Florida last month saying how great it was?

[mathurine]

Their behavior is inexscusable and the Islamic apologists for that behavior are a party to it. I hope that France decides pretty soon here whether they are just Brand-X status-quo Jew baiters or an Islamic country. Pathetically, it appears, they are more Nazi than Napoleon; more laughable than Lafayette. Overflying France is sometimes useful, and giving them the illusion of control over their airspace is flattering to them. However, they are not a major player in the new world order. Russia is. China is. Quite a few countries are, but France is right there with Quebec. Talk funny. Count for little. Have any amazing ability to come down on the wrong side of it, whatever it might be.

[RangeRatt]

But....Islam Is A Religion Of Peace. More like "pieces"....

[Travis McGee]

What about all the cheerleaders that posted on the thread about the guy that drove his truck into the mosque in Florida last month saying how great it was?

Links and citations please.

[My Favorite Headache]

The Jews are smart. They fight now. They will NEVER be brought down to the levels again of Nazi Germany. I would expect to see mass shootings soon enough and Koffi getting hits put on him from Jewish henchmen in NYC.

[RangeRatt]

yes, they are much smarter these days. But, I would think, possibly, vastly outnumbered.

[My Favorite Headache]

IDF could handle 80% of the middle east on their own...believe that as a fact. Bring in the U.S. and it is curtains and these people will not have a clue about what hit them. An all out Jihad is media hype and it would be over in a matter of bombs.

[LarryLied]

I sure hope Teddy "the Swimmer" Kennedy, Chuckie "Fruit-loops" Schumer, Jerrold "Jabba the Hutt" Nadler, Rosa "The Red" DeLauro, Holy Joe Lieberman and Bernie "I'm a socialist and proud of it!" Sanders rethink their position that multiculturism and "diversity" are a good in themselves.

[SJackson]

"Late on Friday, some 15 masked youths rammed two stolen cars through the main gates of Lyon's La Duchere synagogue" What about all the cheerleaders that posted on the thread about the guy that drove his truck into the mosque in Florida last month saying how great it was?

I don't remember that. Link to the thread?

If you're right, is it OK to firebomb Synagogues because of some asshole (no *, whoever cheered the destruction of a mosque deserves it) on FR? Really think thats the reason? Think the anti-semites in France read FR to pick their targets?

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

France has already begun to draft terms of its surrender.

[mv1]

I guess it is easy to miss such violent hatred in the sea of it. You think it is ok for people to cheer when American citizens are attacked in their houses of worship? YES OR NO?

[Prodigal Daughter]

I read that European Muslim teenage gangs were raping infidel teenage girls. I guess they are still on the streets and are adding to their resumés of evil.

[L`enn]

When is the last war a Mohammedan nation won? Certainly not since the industrial revolution. Yeah they have have flashes of brilliance like thd battle of Kharthoum that did not amount to much. They are up there with Italy and France when it comes to getting mudholes stomped in their butts.

Hell only time they can win a war is when they declare it on another Muslim nation. Even then, as in Iran vs Iraq, sometimes neither one wins. Recent history shows us lessons of Arab nations being gone thru like soft cheese (Gulf War, Yom Kippur War, 7 day war)

[SJackson]

I guess it is easy to miss such violent hatred in the sea of it. You think it is ok for people to cheer when American citizens are attacked in their houses of worship? YES OR NO?

???????????????

Can you read?

I called those who cheer assholes (without the *).

Do you think calling someone an *sshole (time to use it) is flattering? Someone attacks a house of worship, I call them an *sshole, and you tell me I think its OK? Did you forget to read the post before attacking, mv1? Perhaps you are floating in the sea of hatred, blinds you to what others say.

[mv1]

If you re-read your post you might see how it might have seemed a little unclear to someone reading it,I am glad you have not lost your humanity, too many seem to have done so.

[SJackson]

It's my eyesight, not my humanity.

[BlackVeil]

Yes, it might be left-wing French. But I think it might be right-wing French people - splinter extremists groups. Again, this is only speculation. But in the early 1980s there was a series of synagogue bombings in Paris, and people were killed, very bad stuff. It seemed like the Palestinians - it co-incided with a flare up in the Middle East - but it turned out to be Action Directe a right-wing anarchist group.

[BlackVeil]

What about the cheerleaders who celebrated the guy driving his truck into a mosque? Oh that's nothing. You ought to have seen the howls of joy over a fatal bus accident in Saudi Arabia, in which Mecca pilgrims died. It was reckoned to be wonderful. I think of it as I somberely watch the Easter road toll (may God bring all souls to rest.) But there are always decent people who write in and disagree.

[goody2shooz]

Islam means peace...

Puh-leeze!! That old saw is so-o-o overused.

[goody2shooz]

They're learning in school that Jews are to be hurt and Jewish property vandalized or destroyed...

They're learning from the European press that Isreal is not granted the same rights that other nations are accorded: namely, the right to exist.

Also that the United Nations is like a weathercook, spinning whichever way the political winds blow.

[newwahoo]

"After French Kissing, what else of importance comes from that "little country?"

French toast? French fries?

[Zviadist]

What about all the cheerleaders that posted on the thread about the guy that drove his truck into the mosque in Florida last month saying how great it was?

Shocking, isn't it?

[RaceBannon]

President Jacques Chirac issued a call for "dialogue, respect and tolerance".

How do you dialog with a mad dog??

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #30

Most of tough troops of Caliphs were Turks. Since the 10the century on, all wars of Mid-East muslims were fought by Turkish slave soldiers. They were neither Arabs nor Persians. The famous defeat of Mongols by muslims was by Mamelukes of Egypt, another group of Turkish slave soldiers settled in Egypt. It was a battle between two groups of steppe nomads from Central Asia. Without the help of Turks, muslim empire would had been gone much earlier.

[jwalburg]

An all out Jihad is media hype and it would be over in a matter of bombs.

Pretty close. They've attacked Hindu trains in India, Buddhist statues in Afghanistan and Christian churches in Pakistan. They aren't exactly making a lot of allies worldwide.

[Steve_Seattle]

"middle-Eastern boys and men"

I wouldn't necessarily assume that. The European "peace activists" who were protecting Arafat the other day were mostly not Arabs, and there are plenty of non-Arab anti-semites in Europe.

[Steve_Seattle]

"what do you have to say now"

Well, Chirac has called for "dialogue," putting these racist thugs on a moral par with their victims. What an a**hole.

[Steve_Seattle]

"They aren't exaxctly making a lot of allies worldwide."

Oh, I don't know about that. Much of the world seems ready to make excuses for them. As long as Israel and the USA are their sworn enemies, they will have plenty of defenders.

[scan59]

I'm still waiting for you to post some specific examples of the cheering you spoke about.

Or are you just some liberal that bases his facts on hearsay such as "I got the impression that...." or "Somebody told me that they heard...."

Sigh....

[knighthawk]

And now they are at it in Germany too!

[Alas Babylon!]

It's disgusting.

Case in point: Suppose, because I don't like what Mugabe in Zimbabwe is doing to white farmers there, I just go out and burn down a couple of black churches here in Alabama, or take pot shots and any random black person walking down the street. What would that make me? A Racist. A hate criminal. Jessee Jackson, Kwasai Mfume, Al Sharpton and Morris Dees would all be going nuts with outrage. So, one has to wonder, where is there outrage now?

Theses Jews in France are NOT Israelis. They are French. Regardless of what the Israelis do, they can not be blamed simply because they're Jews. For their government to immediately not come to there aid is unforgivable.

[Grampa Dave]

Actually French Fries came from Belgium as probably did the French Kiss and French Toast. Remember Belgium waffles.

[mv1]

It is pretty sad to see hatred on the level of neo-nazi skinheads isn't it? What agenda drives such dehumanizing of a people? Not an American one.