Funeral Held for Toulouse Victims
Image by getty images
Anguish in Israel: Grief-stricken crowds mourn the deaths of the victims of the Toulouse shooting rampage at their funeral in Jerusalem. Image by getty images
Thousands of mourners arrived at the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning to attend the funeral of the four victims in the shooting at a Jewish School in Toulouse, southwest France, earlier this week.
In attendance were French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman and Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi, as well as deputy health minister Yaakov Litzman.
Juppe met with President Shimon Peres before the funeral started. “I came to show the French people’s solidarity with the Israeli people, who feel like their children have been murdered,” he said after the meeting.
“I thank you for being sympathetic with us such a hard day,” said Peres to Juppe.
“This is a unique expression of the deep relations between France and Israel. Your arrival and the actions of President Sarkozy during these difficult events prove that Israel and France are on the same front in search of peace and all-out war against terrorism,” Peres said.
“You can be confident: France is doing everything and will do everything so that there will be full safety in schools and synagogues, so that a criminal act such as this will never happen again,” Juppe said at the ceremony.
Juppe said at the end of his eulogy, “May their souls be bound in the bond of life.”
Parliament speaker Reuben Rivlin said in his eulogy at the that the attack was inspired by “wild animals with hatred in their hearts.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
