Posted on 03/31/2002 9:41:52 PM PST by Prodigal Son
A fire destroyed a synagogue in the southern French city of Marseilles later on Sunday, in what appears to be the latest in a wave of attacks against Jewish targets across the country.
Police have yet to comment on the cause of the blaze which destroyed the building in the Mediterranean port city, the French news agency AFP reports.
In attacks in other cities, shots were fired at a kosher butcher's and two other synagogues were damaged in what Jewish leaders are seeing as a pattern of violence.
A leader of France's Jewish community said the attacks were warning signs that anti-Semitism reminiscent of the Nazi era could sweep the country.
The fire in Marseilles on Sunday night was condemned by Clement Yana of the French Jewish Representative Committee.
"This is not an accident," he said. "The fire took hold in several places. It was done with petrol. This is an anti-Semitic act."
The earlier attacks all came within 24 hours each hours of each other at the weekend in or near major cities.
'Profoundly worried'
No-one has been hurt in the attacks, though there was a report of a Jewish couple being assaulted in the town of Villeurbanne, in the Rhone region, causing the woman to spend the night in hospital.
Jean Kahn, president of the Central Board of French Jews, said events were reminiscent of "Kristallnacht" - the name given to the night of 9 November, 1938, when German mobs embarked on a rampage of anti-Semitic violence with the backing of Adolf Hitler's Nazi government.
The Jewish Central Consistory in Paris said it was "profoundly worried by the repeated attacks on French synagogues," and called on the government immediately to step up protection of Jewish buildings and institutions.
The attacks came during the Jewish festival of Passover and followed a surge of violence in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin condemned the Lyon attack as "spineless and absurd".
"I will not accept the spread of racism and anti-Semitism in our country," he said.
President Jacques Chirac also denounced the violence but denied there was a spirit of anti-Semitism in France.
Police in various areas have strengthened security around Jewish buildings.
Israeli leaders - including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - have said French anti-Semitism is on the rise, but the government in Paris argues that the attacks are mainly the work of Muslims of North African origin and must be seen in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Marseilles has a particularly large Muslim community.
Nope, can't find anything worse than "French". Sorry.
That is a fact worth noting. My wife and I lived in Montpellier for about half a year and have our own experiences with that particular demographic.
Now if I were Jewish, I'd be looking to kick some Muslim booty.
A: [France] has a particularly large Muslim community.
What the hell is going on in France!
The same thing that is going to be happening EVERYWHERE radical islam is tolerated. Death and destruction to the infidels.
They know NOTHING else. It is the only and ultimate goal of their entire faith the subjugation or obliteration of every religion but their own.
THIS is why France, the nation who has been reported to have as many as 30 percent of their nation filled with these arabs/islamics, has been so demanding on us, and Israel. They KNEW this day was coming to their nation, and sought to prevent and delay it. Now, since Europe is incapable of turning US resolve or Israeli survival instincts... THEY will begin to feel the edge of the Islamic scourge. SAD. You let them in the door, they then turn and kill your family, children, sick and women-- in that order.
The Islamic snake has begun to writhe and spit its deadly venom in every capitol of the West. France, despite their pandering comments to Islam, that smack of nazism to Israelis as a nation... will doubtless fail to escape radical Islam's venomous bite. Where they are allowed to enter, they bring their murderous faith. We have allowed them to enter OUR heartland... the very soil from whence the vipers struck at us on 9-11.
No place, where Islam has raised its minarets over the landscape is safe.
Honestly, I don't really care for what France has become sinc WWII. BUT, they HAVE done very honorable things in the past. Historically, they have stood up for doing right and even good things. Those days are seemingly gone. Now they are over-run with these crazed musli invaders, and liberal socialists.... the latter will never understand WHY the radical islamics have turned on them, especially after all the "tolerance" and "open mindedness" france has shown them. Even more shocked they will be as they discover that their anti-Israeli rhetoric and deeds, have NO value in winning the favor of radical Islam. To radical Islam, Europe has become the "band of useful idiots."
God save Great Britain. For France, it may be too late for salvation, without cleansing.
France has not the back bone to stand up to radical Islam. Who can they call on?
Yeah but... I thought...Islam is a religion of peace...
Or put another way- when will Europe wake up to the fact that Islamic men don't flock there because they seek enlightenment; they are there because they see Europe as the neighborhood slut and are treating her as such.
This is not about land ... and this is not about the Palestinians .. it is about killing Jews ..
The question is .. WHEN WILL THE WORLD WAKE UP!!!!
Well if I look back into history .. my guess would be they'll be the last ones to figure this out
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