Suspected Neo-Nazi Link in School Shooting
French investigators suspect there may be a link between the attack on a Jewish school in here on Monday and two other attacks which occurred in the area a week earlier, saying French soldiers suspected of neo-Nazi activities may have carried out the attacks.
Witnesses said Monday’s attack, in which four people were killed, was carried out by armed attackers riding on a scooter, one with a camera around his neck.
Last week, four French soldiers of north African origin were killed in two separate attacks that followed a similar pattern. Police sources told the British newspaper the Guardian that the same weapon may have been used in the attacks.
French authorities said they suspect French paratroopers sanctioned for alleged neo-Nazi activities may have carried out the attacks, but are also exploring other directions.
Meanwhile, security was bolstered around Jewish community institutions in southern France following the attack on Monday, with police blocking roads around the Otzar Hatorah school.
Toulouse Jewish community head Aryeh Ben-Simhon said that armed guards had been stationed outside the city’s thirteen synagogues and three Jewish schools, with the community on “high alert.”
According to Ben-Simhon, the Jewish community had warned authorities in the past that they could be targeted by extremists. “Guards were posted in the past, but then they were removed,” he said.
The bodies of the four victims of Monday’s attack are scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for burial, following a memorial ceremony in Toulouse.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
