France fears anti-Semitic acts
2004-03-23 20:34
Toulon, France - Attackers set fire to a Jewish community centre in southeast France overnight, slightly damaging its entrance hall, police said on Tuesday.
The unidentified assailants broke a window at the centre, in the southwestern city of Toulon, and doused the interior with a flammable liquid which was then set on fire, according to the police account. Several walls were blackened.
No one was injured. It was not immediately clear who was behind the incident.
Yves Haddad, who leads the local Jewish community, expressed "disgust and sadness" at the attack, saying it might be "an importation of what's happening in the Middle East."
France has been battling new anti-Semitic violence for more than two years, often involving attacks against Jewish schools, synagogues and community centres. In March 2002, a synagogue in the nearby city of Marseille was burned to the ground.
President Jacques Chirac has put in motion an action plan to fight anti-Semitism that includes extra security at Jewish schools and places of worship, and establishing tough new penalties to those found guilty of anti-Semitic acts.
- AP