Synagogue Arson Attempt Fuels Antisemitism Fears in France

synagogue arson attempt fuels antisemitism fears in france

PARIS—Fears of rising antisemitism in France jumped again on Friday when police shot and killed an armed suspect who was attempting to set fire to a synagogue in the northwest of the country.

France’s Interior Ministry said that police shot the man when responding early Friday morning to the incident at a synagogue in Rouen, a midsize port city that is the capital of Normandy. Firefighters put out the beginnings of the fire.

“The whole city of Rouen is wounded and shocked,” the city’s mayor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, said on X.

The arson attempt comes as French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to contain a surge in antisemitism in the country, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community. French officials say that antisemitic incidents have surged in the country since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack against Israel, which responded by launching a war in Gaza.

In a poll this month, 76% of French people—and 92% of French Jews—said they felt antisemitism had become a widespread phenomenon in the country, up from 64% and 85% two years ago.

Like their U.S. counterparts, French universities also grappled with where to draw the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism against Jews after pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly took over university buildings and made some Jewish students feel unsafe. The French police eventually cleared many of the protesters.

The government has in recent months also started investigating some opposition politicians accused of condoning the Oct. 7 attack under French laws that criminalize condoning terrorism.

The arson attempt also illustrates the challenge for French officials as they attempt to maintain security during this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

After an attack by Islamic State gunmen at a concert hall in Moscow in March, France raised its terrorism alert to its highest level. In October, a French high-school teacher was killed in an attack allegedly perpetrated by a man of Chechen origin who was on a terrorism watch list.

Write to Sam Schechner at [email protected]

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