Petrol bomb thrown at French synagogue
Anti-Semitic attacks in France abound as unknown persons set fire to door of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges temple
The main entrance door to the synagogue at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, southeast of Paris, was damaged by fire and a police source said it remained unclear whether one or several petrol bombs were thrown.
France has recorded around 60 anti-Semitic incidents since Israel launched its Gaza offensive 20 days ago, constituting an increase of over 100%.
Three other synagogues have been fire-bombed in the past two weeks and vandals have daubed anti-Israeli graffiti on at least two other Jewish places of worship.
CRIF, the umbrella representative body of Jewish organizations in France, called on the authorities “to measure the seriousness of the situation and contain this unbearable rise of anti-Semitic acts in France.”
There have been no arrests so far in any of the cases, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed "zero tolerance" for hate violence and warned "there is no place in the republic for anti-Semites or Islamophobes."
"Those who want to import violence between different communities into France will find the state on their tracks," Sarkozy said at a New Year's address to police. "We will not let the consequences of this conflict be imported into France."
France houses the largest Jewish community in Western Europe, as well as the largest Muslim community. The Jewish community numbers around 600,000 people and about five million Muslims reside in the country.
