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Petrol bomb attack on French synagogue tied to Gaza conflict

Other News Materials 12 January 2009 13:52 (UTC +04:00)

A petrol bomb was hurled against a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis as the Gaza conflict continued to provoke ant-Semitic incidents in France, French media reported on Monday.

The president of the National Office of Vigilance against Anti- Semitism, Sammy Ghozlan, linked the attack to the growing sentiment in France against Israel's military operation in Gaza, reported dpa.

"What we were afraid of has happened," said Ghozlan, who had asked the mayor of Saint-Denis to annul a pro-Palestinian demonstration last week.

The petrol bomb broke a window and damaged the wall of a Jewish restaurant adjacent to the synagogue.

Three people were seen fleeing from the scene at the time of the attack, which took place late Sunday.

According to the website of the weekly Le Point, it was the 30th anti-Semitic act since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza on December 27.

On January 4, a car was driven against the gates of a synagogue in the southern city of Toulouse and set on fire.

France has the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in Europe, and Mideast violence often provokes tension between the two communities.

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