|
|
November 9, 2001/Cheshvan 23, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 9
Arsonists attack Marseille Jewish elementary school
ANDREW DIAMOND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
PARIS - Jews in Marseille have been left in a state of shock after vandals burned down part of a Jewish elementary school in the southern port city.
On Oct. 28, two trailers used as classrooms at the Pardes Jewish School in Marseille were destroyed before firefighters could control the flames.
A day later, leaders of the Marseille Jewish community gathered at the charred remains to condemn the act and discuss its implications.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, Clement Yana, president of the local branch of CRIF, the umbrella group of secular French Jewish organizations, emphasized that Jewish leaders are taking the incident very seriously but believe it was the act of young delinquents from the neighborhood.
Nobody seems to dispute this interpretation, but many people in the Jewish community nonetheless are uneasy.
Perhaps most disquieting for some were the inscriptions the vandals sprayed on the walls of the school's main building: "Death to Jews" and "Bin Laden Will Conquer."
"There have already been some incidents," Annick Mettoudy, a mother of one student at Pardes, told reporters at the scene, "but this time it's more serious."
The same feeling prompted the police prefect to position guards around Jewish schools throughout the city.
A wave of anti-Semitic violence erupted in France after the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000. Most of those cases involved arson attacks against synagogues.
This past weekend, several anti-Semitic incidents occurred in and around Paris.
The night of Nov. 3, attackers hurled a Molotov cocktail against the wall of a synagogue in the 20th district, home to large concentrations of Jews and Muslims of North African descent. On Nov. 4, in the nearby 12th district, religious leaders discovered signs of an attempted break-in at a Jewish place of worship.
In another weekend incident, in the suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine, vandals smashed the windows of a Jewish school.
A range of emotions swept the local community following last week's attack in Marseille.
There also was a collective determination not to allow the incident to undermine what for nearly 40 years has been peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Frais-Vallon, the subsidized housing facility where the school is located.
|
