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France Bolsters Security at Jewish Schools, Synagogues Amid Mideast Conflict as Passover Approaches
A pro-Hamas protester with a sign comparing the Auschwitz extermination camp with the current war in Gaza at a demonstration in Paris. Photo: Reuters/Henrique Campos
France will bolster security at Jewish schools and synagogues ahead of Passover, in part due to the ongoing war in Gaza and the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, according to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
“As Passover approaches and given the current international situation, I have told local officials to significantly step up security at places visited by our Jewish compatriots, especially with regards to synagogues and Jewish schools,” he wrote on the X/Twitter social media platform.
The Jewish holiday of Passover, which celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt, will begin next Monday evening and end the following Tuesday.
Darmanin’s tweet came amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza and one day after Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against the Israeli homeland.
The move to step up security at Jewish institutions also came amid an explosion of antisemitism in France in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Antisemitic outrages rose by over 1,000 percent in the final three months of 2023 compared with the previous year, with over 1,200 incidents reported — greater than the total number of incidents in France for the previous three years combined.
Amid a historic surge in hate crimes against Jews, Darmanin has announced several steps to combat pro-Hamas forces in the country.
Following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, the interior minister attempted to impose an outright ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, citing fears over public disorder. That order was subsequently modified by the Council of State, which ruled that demonstrations could be banned by the police on a case-by-case basis.
Last month, Darmanin announced the dissolution of two militantly anti-Zionist organizations advocating the destruction of Israel as a democratic Jewish state and its replacement by a unitary state of Palestine.
In an address to the Jewish community days later, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged his commitment to countering hatred of Jews.
“Every time the slightest trace of antisemitism reappears, we will be as uncompromising as we have always been,” Macron said.
Macron was one of the leading voices in condemning a group of pro-Hamas students who blockaded a lecture hall at one of France’s most prestigious academic institutions last month, preventing Jewish students from accessing the space.
The post France Bolsters Security at Jewish Schools, Synagogues Amid Mideast Conflict as Passover Approaches first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money
The Jewish Colonial Trust was established on March 20, 1899. The first Zionist bank was the brainchild of Theodor Herzl who understood that funding would be required to make his vision of a Jewish homeland a reality. Each share cost one English pound, the equivalent of $280 today. (Herzl bought the first 1,000 shares which was a […]
The post Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money first appeared on The Canadian Jewish News.
The post Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming
Illustrative: Israeli police at the scene of a car-ramming terrorist attack near a market in Jerusalem on Monday, April 24, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters.
JNS.org – A Palestinian rammed his vehicle into a cop car in the West Bank on Saturday in what the military was investigating as a terror attack.
The incident occurred at the Eli gas station, the scene of repeated acts of terrorism against Israelis.
“A Palestinian vehicle accelerated towards a police car and collided with it, there were no casualties,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Troops caught the terrorist and transferred him to security forces for further investigation,” added the statement.
On Sunday, three Israeli police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint, some 7.5 miles northwest of Hebron in Judea.
They were named as Chief Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, of Kiryat Gat, who is survived by his wife and three children; Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, of Sde Moshe, who is survived by her husband, three children and granddaughter; and 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, of Sderot, who is survived by his wife, daughter and granddaughter.
Shakuri’s other daughter, 1st Sgt. Mor Shakuri, 29, was killed on Oct. 7 while battling an attempt by Hamas terrorists to take control of the police station in Sderot, in southern Israel near the border with Gaza.
The post Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia
A missile unveiled by Iran is launched in an unknown location in Iran in this picture received by Reuters on August 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it was deeply concerned by reports about a possible impending transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia.
In a statement emailed to reporters, the ministry said the deepening military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, Europe and the Middle East, and called on the international community to increase pressure on Iran and Russia.
CNN and The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, citing unidentified sources.
Reuters reported in August that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Iran and that dozens of Russian military personnel were being trained in Iran on the satellite-guided weapons for eventual use in the war in Ukraine.
On Friday, the United States, a key ally of Ukraine, also voiced concern about the potential transfer of missiles.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday that Tehran’s position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged.
“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict – which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations – to be inhumane,” it said.
“Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict.”
The post Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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