Following a thwarted attack on Jewish school children in the French city of Nice that took place on Tuesday, the Wiesenthal Center congratulated Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi in a Sunday press release.
Wiesenthal Center Director for International Relation Dr. Shimon Samuels lauded the clear condemnation of hate and antisemitic violence by the mayor, which he said were ‘unacceptable’ and added that he is “concerned” at how people who commit assaults on Jewish people in France claim to be insane or under drugs and so a “denial of justice” is allowed to exist.
In the Tuesday attack, a man attempted to break into the Or Torah school while shouting insults against Jews. The guard confronted him, sounded the alarm, and the police arrived and arrested the man – who had fled the scene, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
In 2012, Mohammed Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, murdered four people in Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse. They were Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his two children who were aged 6 and 3 at the time, and another 8-year-old child. Merah was shot by French police after a siege.
The incident led to increased security measures being taken in France when Jewish institutions are concerned.
In 2017, 65-year-old Sarah Halimi was thrown off her balcony to her death by her 27-year-old neighbor Kobili Traore. French authorities determined that the attack was not antisemitic because Traore was under the influence of drugs and claimed he had killed the devil.The decision caused an uproar among both French Jews and non-Jewish citizens of the republic, who wondered how it is possible that a man who beats a woman and throws her to her death while reciting verses from the Quran can escape trial and instead be held until he undergoes a mental evaluation.