French Police Kill Man Who Allegedly Set Fire On A Synagogue (image@JPNWMN)
The French police shot dead a man who allegedly set a synagogue on fire in the north-western city of Rouen. Reportedly, the man was armed with a knife and an iron bar. He was shot when he approached a police officer. The Mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, said that the attack has not only affected the Jewish community, but the entire city was “battered and in shock”.
Police were called after the smoke was seen rising from the synagogue, reported BBC citing local reports. The mayor said that there were no victims other than the armed man. The fire was eventually brought under control by the firefighters. The Interior Minister of France, Gerald Darmanin, took to his X (formerly twitter), and said that the armed individual was “neutralised”.
The man was not identified immediately. As per Natacha Ben Haïm, the head of Rouen”s Jewish community, a petrol bomb was thrown inside the synagogue through a small window. The furniture and walls had been left blackened by the fire, she said.
Reportedly, two investigations are going on the in the back drop of the incident. The first one is into the attack on a worship place and the “intentional violence” against police. The second is about the death of the man. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said that it was currently assessing whether it would take up the case, said AFP.
France has the largest Jewish community after Israel and US. It is also the largest European country with most Muslim population. The situation is fragile, since October 7th, when Israel started its war on Gaza, following Hamas attack on Tel Aviv.
Earlier this week, a red graffiti was painted onto France”s Holocaust Memorial. The incident evoked anger among the French population, including the President Emmanuel Macron, who condemned the “odious anti-Semitism”.
The president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), Yonathan Arfi said that, “attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country. Combatting anti-Semitism means defending the Republic”.
The latest attack came days after a gunmen shot dead two prison officers in an ambush at a motorway toll south of the city. The miscreant, who is identified as Mohamed Amra escaped the prison during the attack and is still on the run.
Recently, France imposed a state of emergency in the Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The emergency is announced for at least 12 days, and the government gave security forces special power to ban gatherings and forbid people from roaming around the island. Paris also banned TikTok. The move came after the three nights of violent confrontations that caused four fatalities and injury more than 300.
All the mishaps are happening while it is only two months away from hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The L”hexagone” has ramped up the alert to its highest level against the current geopolitical situation.
