Anti-terror prosecutors in France opened a probe on Sunday after at least one gun was found in a car parked near a synagogue in a Paris suburb.
France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, has seen a surge of antisemitic crimes since the beginning Israel’s war against the Palestinian military group, Hamas in Gaza.
What do we know?
The discovery was made on Saturday in the northern Paris neighborhood of Sarcelles, which has a large Jewish population.
According to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, the gun found was a “military-grade weapon” and was found near one of the town’s synagogues.
Nunez said a motive had not been established and no arrests have been made, so far.
Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation “on charges of forming a terrorist criminal organisation with a view to preparing crimes involving attacks on persons and the transport, possession and acquisition of weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
The suspect car was parked close to a cinema and restaurants in a busy neighhood, AFP news agency reported.
The find prompted the evacuation of about 300 people, local media said.
AFP cited a police source as saying that no explosives were found but an assault-style rifle and a handgun were retrieved.
Macron decries ‘demons’ of antisemitism
France has seen a sharp rise in antisemitism since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
French police have so far this year foiled three planned attacks on the Jewish community, Nunez said, including a knife attack on a gendarme beneath the Arc de Triomphe in February.
Last year, the country recorded 1,320 antisemitic acts, a tripling in three years.
The acts made up over half of all anti-religious incidents, even though Jews make up less than 1% of the French population.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the rising “old demons” of antisemitism during a speech Sunday, which he said had darkened France’s past and present.
Macron was at the launch of a statue honoring Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, whose wrongful 19th century treason conviction exposed deeply rooted anti-Jewish bias in France.
Sunday marked 120 years since Dreyfus’ exoneration by France’s highest court. His statue now stands outside the court, the Palace of Justice, in Paris.
Dreyfus, who was Jewish, received a life sentence after being falsely accused of passing military secrets to Germany.
Critics said Dreyfus had been made a scapegoat by the French military and he was later cleared of all charges.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
About The Author
