Tag: synagogue

French police arrest man suspected of attempted arson against synagogue

  LA GRANDE-MOTTE, France (Reuters) -French police have arrested a man suspected of trying to set a synagogue ablaze in the southern French city of la Grande-Motte on Saturday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. About 200 police officers had been hunting for the suspect, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said earlier, adding that the attacker had set fire to several entry doors to the synagogue and several cars nearby. BFM TV said the suspect was a […]

Polish officials condemn arson attack on Warsaw synagogue

WARSAW, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Polish authorities on Wednesday condemned an arson attack against a Warsaw synagogue. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, quoting the country’s chief rabbi, said “someone tried to set fire to the Nozyk synagogue with a Molotov cocktail”. “Thank God no-one was hurt,” the minister added in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I condemn this shameful attack on the Nozyk synagogue in Warsaw,” Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote on X. “Anti-Semitism […]

US police: No Indication of anti-semitism in synagogue president’s murder

DETROIT, Oct 22, 2023 (AFP) – Police probing the stabbing death of the president of a US synagogue said Sunday that no evidence has emerged of anti-Semitism as a motive. Detroit police chief James White said in a brief statement that his force is interviewing “individuals with information that may further the investigation” into the death Saturday of Samantha Woll. He gave no details. “No evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by […]

Germany’s Scholz vows action after Molotovs thrown at synagogue

By Deborah COLE BERLIN, Oct 18, 2023 (AFP) – Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to fight anti-Semitism on German soil, after attackers hurled two Molotov cocktails at a Jewish synagogue in Berlin early Wednesday. Police in the German capital said they were probing the attack in the Mitte district of the city. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The attack, at around 3:45am (0145 GMT), comes amid a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents in […]

Hostages freed in Texas synagogue standoff, suspect dead

by Francois Picard All four people taken hostage in a more than 10-hour standoff at a Texas synagogue have been freed unharmed, police said late Saturday, and their suspected captor is dead. The hostage siege in the small Texas town of Colleyville — in which the suspect was apparently demanding the release of a convicted terrorist — had sparked an outpouring of concern from US Jewish organizations as well as from the Israeli government. Colleyville […]

‘Evil will never prevail’: US rabbi hails synagogue shooting heroes

  by Sandy Huffaker Agence France Presse POWAY, United States (AFP) — Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of the Chabad of Poway synagogue had been finalizing his sermon for the last day of Passover when he heard a loud bang and stopped in his tracks. The preacher had just passed his good friend Lori Kaye in the lobby. The pair exchanged smiles, and his immediate thought was that she “may have fell or a table tipped over.” […]

One dead, 3 injured in deadly synagogue attack in California

    by Sandy HUFFAKER Agence France Pressse POWAY, United States (AFP) — A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in California on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others including the rabbi as worshippers marked the final day of Passover, authorities said. The shooting in the town of Poway, north of San Diego, came exactly six months after a white supremacist killed 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue — the deadliest […]

Some 1,500 protest Trump, mourn US synagogue dead

  by Jennie MATTHEW Agence France Presse PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — Around 1,500 people took to the streets of Pittsburgh Tuesday to demonstrate peacefully in song against a visit by US President Donald Trump and to mourn 11 Jewish worshipers killed in a synagogue. The crowd of all ages and faiths, including many young families, children and the elderly, marched for six blocks holding signs that read “President Hate, Leave Our State!” and “Trump’s […]

What we know about the US synagogue shooting suspect

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The shooter in Saturday’s deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, identified by officials as local resident Robert Bowers, is to face federal charges that carry the death penalty.Here is what is known so far about the suspect, who reportedly yelled “All Jews must die!” as he launched his attack, killing 11 people and wounding six more. The suspect is in “fair condition” with multiple gunshot wounds, and is being treated […]

US synagogue suffers 20 minutes of terror

  PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — Gunman Robert Bowers only needed 20 minutes to sow terror at the Tree of Life synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh, where congregants had gathered peacefully for Shabbat services marking a day of rest. Shortly before 10 am (1400 GMT) the 46-year-old Bowers — who had penned virulent anti-Semitic messages on social networks — burst into the synagogue armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. Stephen Weiss, […]