Burning car rammed into French synagogue

A car rammed the doors of a synagogue in Toulouse in southern France on Monday night, causing the building to catch fire. Nobody was hurt in the blaze

A car packed with petrol bombs was set on fire and pushed by another car into a synagogue. At the time of the attack, twelve people were attending a lecture given from a rabbi. The synagogue door caught fire, but there was no other damage. No arrests have been made by the police till now.

The attack appears to be a spill over of anger over Israel's attacks in Gaza. France has the largest community of Muslims and Jews in Western Europe. The attack comes just one day after French defence minister met Jewish and Muslim community leaders requesting to stay away from violence.

Dominique Sopo, the head of France's main anti-racist movement SOS Racisme condemned the incident.

Those who want to import the Middle East conflict over here aren't helping the Israelis or the Palestinians, unless they can explain why hitting a Jew here improves the situation in Gaza, or how Arab-bashing helps protect Israel.




France has seen an increase in Anti-semitic violence since 2002 when Israel launched it's offensive on West Bank. Over 2,000 Jews have left France for Israel since 2002 as they felt insecure in France. France which had seen rioting by North African immigrants in the past fear more such incidents if the situation in Gaza deteriorates further. An Anti-Israel demonstration held on Monday in Paris had turned violent with the demonstrators torching cars and vandalizing several shops.