Anti-Semitism in France, already vibrant, was put on dramatic display early yesterday morning when a dozen hooded vandals crashed two cars through the main gate of a synagogue in the city of Lyon. They then rammed one of the cars into the synagogue\'s sanctuary and set the vehicle on fire. No one was hurt in the attack, and firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze after it charred the building\'s facade and shattered several windows. A book published this month by the Union of Jewish Students of France says that there have been at least 400 attacks against Jews in France since the start of the 18-month-old Oslo War. This represents the greatest surge of anti-Semitism in France since World War II.
In two other incidents over the weekend, a gunman opened fire on a kosher butcher shop in southern France, and a Jewish couple in their 20s were hurt yesterday in an attack Villeurbanne, in the Rhone region. The Jewish community of France calls upon the government to take swift action to protect Jewish establishments, warning that a deterioration could lead to another Kristallnacht [Night of Broken Glass in November 1938, when the Germans killed many Jews, destroyed synagogues, and scattered and burnt Jewish holy books].
In two other incidents over the weekend, a gunman opened fire on a kosher butcher shop in southern France, and a Jewish couple in their 20s were hurt yesterday in an attack Villeurbanne, in the Rhone region. The Jewish community of France calls upon the government to take swift action to protect Jewish establishments, warning that a deterioration could lead to another Kristallnacht [Night of Broken Glass in November 1938, when the Germans killed many Jews, destroyed synagogues, and scattered and burnt Jewish holy books].