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4 decades later, new trial of alleged 1980 Paris synagogue bomber offers victims opportunity for closure
PARIS (JTA) — The courtroom was crowded but the defendant’s seat was empty on Monday as a landmark trial in French Jewish history got underway, nearly 43 years after the synagogue bombing that Hassan Diab stands accused of orchestrating.
An arrest warrant in the 1980 bombing that killed four people and wounded 46 was first issued for Diab, a Lebanese academic who lives in Canada, in 2008. Only now is a trial getting underway — and he has chosen not to attend, prompting criticism from both prosecutors and French Jews who are hoping for a sense of resolution after decades of trauma.
“Hassan Diab’s decision not to appear before your court is a great disgrace to your jurisdiction,” the attorney general said during the first day of the trial, during a discussion of whether an arrest warrant should be issued, a move that would require the trial to be dismissed.
“Which human would not make the same decision?” replied Diab’s lawyer, William Bourdon, about his client’s choice not to travel to France to stand trial. “This decision is humanly respectable. It is in no way a sign of cowardice.”
The Reform synagogue on Rue Copernic that was bombed is nested in the heart of a wealthy residential area, in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. A visitor today would not be able to tell that the ceiling had once been shattered into a million little pieces, that the floor had been spotted with blood. If not for the commemorative plaque at the entrance, nothing there would show the synagogue was once the scene of a deadly terrorist attack.
Yet the trial is freighted with the fear and anxiety that set in after what is now known as the Rue Copernic bombing on Oct. 3, 1980, understood to be the first fatal antisemitic attack in France since the Holocaust. Since then, a string of antisemitic attacks on communal targets and individuals have caused many French Jews to feel afraid, both about their personal vulnerability and about the state’s commitment to their safety.
But while the prosecution of some potentially antisemitic attacks has not always satisfied French Jews, the long ordeal to bring Diab to trial suggests great diligence on the part of many involved.
Bernard Cahen, an attorney for the synagogue and one of the victims, who is now in his 80s, promised he would see this case through until the end.
“Whatever the outcome, this has been going on for way too long,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview, adding with a joke, “Everybody is surprised I’m still here to represent my clients.”
Cahen represents Monique Barbé, who lost her husband in the bombing when she was 37. Now nearly 80 and living in the South of France, Barbé won’t be coming to the trial.
“I don’t have the strength. But I can’t wait for all of this to end,” she told JTA.
About 300 worshippers were attending the Shabbat service and celebrating five bar mitzvahs that Friday evening when, at 6:35 p.m., a bomb exploded right outside the synagogue. The door was blown up, the glass ceiling collapsed on the worshippers; wooden benches were projected across the room.
Outside the synagogue the scene was even more gruesome. In his book about the case, the French journalist Jean Chichizola described “cars thrown on the road like children’s toys,” “flames licking the upper floors of adjacent buildings” and “shop windows blown up all along the street.”
In what looked like a war zone lay four bodies. Israeli TV journalist Aliza Shagrir, 44, was hit by the blast as she walked by. Philippe Boissou, 22, who was riding by on his motorcycle, also died on the spot. Driver Jean-Michel Barbé was found dead in his car, which was parked right outside the synagogue where he was awaiting clients attending the service. Nearby, a hotel worker named Hilario Lopes-Fernandez was seriously injured and died two days later.
Investigators quickly established that the bomb had been placed in the saddlebag of a Suzuki motorcycle parked in front of the synagogue. It was meant to go off precisely as the worshippers left the building, which would undoubtedly have killed many more people. But the ceremony had started a few minutes late.
At first, a man close to a neo-Nazi group claimed responsibility for the attack, misleading investigators for months before confessing he had nothing to do with it. The attack was ultimately attributed to an extremist group in the Middle East, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operations, and investigators alleged that Diab had planted the bomb. After an arrest warrant was issued in 2008, he was extradited from Canada in 2014, indicted in Paris and imprisoned.
But in a surprise to many, Diab’s case was dismissed in 2018, allowing him to return to Canada a free man. Prosecutors appealed, leading to another surprising turn of events in 2021 as the court upheld the earlier decision, directing Diab to stand trial after all.
“This is a gaping wound for the Jewish community and here in France people remember this horrible attack,” historian Marc Knobel told JTA. “Let us not forget how shocked and hurt we all were at the time.”
Indeed, outrage in the immediate aftermath of the bombing was fierce. France’s major trade unions called for a nationwide strike as a gesture of solidarity with Jews, while government ministers promised a speedy response and deployed police officers to other Jewish sites. Meanwhile, Jews marched in the streets, some vowing to take security into their own hands, in a demonstration that presaged longstanding tensions within French Jewry.
Over four decades later, Monique Barbé reflected on the tragedy that has changed her life forever.
“This has ruined my life. I was nervously wrecked for a very long time,” she said. “Imagine, I had to go identify my husband’s body. At the police station, they gave me back his half-burnt ID card and his damaged wedding ring. That’s all I was left with.”
But she questioned exactly how much the bombing and trial should register for people whose connection is more distant than her own.
“I do believe this is a necessary trial but except for those who lost their loved ones, I don’t see why anybody would still think about it today, it’s been so long,” Barbé said. “Plus there have been so many terrorist attacks since.”
Jean-François Bensahel, president of the Copernic synagogue, thinks this trial is actually of great importance even to those who were not born at the time of the attack.
“It’s engraved in our community’s history,” he said in an interview. “It’s difficult for us to understand why Hassan Diab has decided not to come to the trial but nothing is over yet. I want to trust justice will be served.”
The attack’s most lasting effects may not be in the trial but in the heavy security infrastructure that is now familiar to anyone engaging with French Jewish institutions, Bensahel said.
“Sadly, synagogues in France (and many other places) are all under protection, even though it’s completely counterintuitive to have security measures in a place of worship where you usually aspire to peace,” he said. “It shows something is not right with the world.”
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DePaul University Denounces Antisemitic Harassment, Targeting of Jewish Students
Students walk into the student center on the campus of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, US, Oct. 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Vondruska
DePaul University in Chicago has denounced an antisemitic incident which took place near its grounds last Wednesday, with President Robert Manuel saying he is “outraged.”
According to the university, a group of its students, as well as others from Loyola College and Roosevelt University, were harassed at the local Olive & Oak Café during a regular outing hosted by Hillel and the Jewish United Fund. During a verbal onslaught, the perpetrators demanded that the students leave for being Jewish while a JUF staff member was subject to battery, according to a description of the incident told by the Chicago Police Department.
“While this incident occurred off campus, I am outraged that our students were targeted and harassed because of their Jewish identity,” Manuel said in a statement on Monday. “These actions are inexcusable. DePaul University condemns antisemitism in all its forms and will continue to stand firm in doing so, in line with our Catholic, Vincentian values.”
He continued, “We are working to determine whether any of the offenders are affiliated with DePaul community, and we will take swift, consistent action if any violations of university policy are identified … Acts of hate and violence has no place at DePaul — or anywhere. Our commitment to foster a campus environment rooted in dignity, care, and respect for all remains unwavering.”
Last Wednesday’s incident is not the first time Jewish DePaul students have been subject to alleged battery and discrimination.
In November 2024, two Jewish students participating in a pro-Israel demonstration at DePaul University were “brutally” assaulted by two ruffians who concealed their identities with masks. At least one of the men, Adam Erkan, involved in the assault has since pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. According to court documents, he approached the victims, Max Long and Michael Kaminsky, in a ski mask while shouting antisemitic epithets and statements. He then attacked both students, fracturing Kaminsky’s wrist and inflicting a brain injury on Long, whom he pummeled into an unconscious state.
Law enforcement identified Erkan, who absconded to another location in a car, after his father came forward to confirm that it was his visage which surveillance cameras captured near the scene of the crime. According to multiple reports, the assailant avoided severer criminal penalties by agreeing to plead guilty to lesser offenses than the felony hate crime counts with which he was originally charged.
His accomplice, described as a man in his age group, remained at large as of late last year.
“One attacker has now admitted guilt for brutally assaulting two Jewish students at DePaul University. That is a step toward justice, but it is nowhere near enough,” The Lawfare Project, a Jewish civil rights advocacy group which represented the Jewish students throughout the criminal proceedings, said in a statement responding to the plea deal. “The second attacker remains at large, and Max and Michael continue to experience ongoing threats. We demand — and fully expect — his swift arrest and prosecution to ensure justice for these students and for the Jewish community harmed by this antisemitic hate crime.”
Antisemitic incidents on US college campuses have exploded nationwide since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
The 2025-2026 academic year has seen a continuation of that pattern.
Earlier this month, a non-student graffitied Nazi insignia on the campus of Northwestern University. The Schutzstaffel (SS) symbol representing the notorious paramilitary group under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany was spray-painted on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, Illinois. The SS played a central role in the Nazis’ systematic killing of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
In January, a right-wing influencer and University of Miami student upbraided her Jewish peers in a tirade in which she denounced them as “disgusting” while accusing rabbis of eating infants.
“Christianity, which says love everyone, meanwhile your Bible says eating someone who is a non-Jew is like eating with an animal. That’s what the Talmud says,” the social media influencer, Kaylee Mahony, yelled at members of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) who had a table at a campus fair held at the University of Miami. “That’s what these people follow.”
She continued, “They think that if you are not a Jew you are an animal. That’s the Talmud. That’s the Talmud.”
The Talmud, a key source of Jewish law, tradition, and theology, is often misrepresented by antisemitic agitators in an effort to malign the Jewish people and their religion.
Mahony can also be heard in video of the incident responding to one of the SSI members, saying, “Because you’re disgusting. It’s disgusting.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Satellite Images Show Iran Repairing and Fortifying Sites Amid US Tensions
A satellite image shows un‑buried tunnel entrances at Isfahan nuclear complex, in Isfahan, Iran, Nov. 11, 2024. Photo: Vantor/Handout via REUTERS
Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid tensions with the US.
Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the US during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict.
They offer a glimpse of Iranian activities at some of the sites at the center of tensions with Israel and the US, as Washington seeks to negotiate a deal with Tehran on its nuclear program while threatening military action if talks fail.
Here are some images showing the changes:
PARCHIN MILITARY COMPLEX
Some 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, the Parchin complex is one of Iran‘s most sensitive military sites. Western intelligence has suggested Tehran carried out tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations there more than two decades ago.
Iran has always denied seeking atomic weapons.
Israel reportedly struck Parchin in October 2024.
Satellite imagery taken before and after that attack shows extensive damage to a rectangular building at Parchin, and apparent reconstruction in images from Nov. 6, 2024.
Imagery from Oct. 12, 2025, shows development at the site, with the skeleton of a new structure visible and two smaller structures adjacent to it. Progress is apparent in imagery from Nov. 14, with what appears to be a metallic roof covering the large structure.
But imagery from Dec. 13 shows the facility partly covered. By Feb. 16, it cannot be seen at all, hidden by what experts say is a concrete structure.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), in a Jan. 22 analysis of satellite imagery, pointed to progress in the construction of a “concrete sarcophagus” around a newly built facility at the site, which it identified as Taleghan 2.
ISIS reported in November that imagery showed “ongoing construction and the presence of what appears to resemble a long, cylindrical chamber, maybe a high-explosives containment vessel, likely measuring approximately 36 meters long and 12 meters in diameter placed inside a building.”
“High-explosive containment vessels are critical to the development of nuclear weapons,” ISIS added, “but can also be used in many other conventional weapons development processes.”
William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, said the roof had a similar hue to the surrounding area, adding: “It has most likely been covered with dirt to obscure the concrete color.”
ISIS founder David Albright wrote on X: “Stalling the negotiations has its benefits: Over the last two to three weeks, Iran has been busy burying the new Taleghan 2 facility … More soil is available and the facility may soon become a fully unrecognizable bunker, providing significant protection from aerial strikes.”
TUNNEL ENTRANCES BURIED AT ISFAHAN NUCLEAR COMPLEX
The Isfahan complex is one of three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants bombed by the United States in June.
In addition to facilities that are part of the nuclear fuel cycle, Isfahan includes an underground area where diplomats say much of Iran‘s enriched uranium has been stored.
Satellite images taken in late January showed new efforts to bury two tunnel entrances at the complex, ISIS reported on Jan. 29. In a Feb. 9 update, ISIS said a third entrance had also been backfilled with soil, meaning all entrances to the tunnel complex were now “completely buried.”
A Feb. 10 image shows all three tunnels buried, Goodhind said.
ISIS reported on Feb. 9 that “backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside difficult.”
TUNNEL ENTRANCES FORTIFIED AT COMPLEX NEAR NATANZ SITE
ISIS has reported that satellite images point to ongoing efforts since Feb. 10 to “harden and defensively strengthen” two entrances to a tunnel complex under a mountain some 2 km (1.2 miles) from Natanz – the site that holds Iran‘s other two uranium enrichment plants.
Imagery shows “ongoing activity throughout the complex related to this effort, involving the movement of numerous vehicles, including dump trucks, cement mixers, and other heavy equipment,” ISIS wrote.
Iran‘s plans for the facility, called Pickaxe Mountain, are unclear, ISIS said.
SHIRAZ SOUTH MISSILE BASE
About 10 km (6 miles) south of Shiraz in southern Iran, this is one of 25 primary bases capable of launching medium-range ballistic missiles, according to Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli organization. Alma assessed the site had suffered light, above-ground damage in last year’s war.
A comparison of images taken on July 3, 2025 and Jan. 30 shows reconstruction and clearance efforts at the main logistics and likely command compound at the base, Goodhind said.
“The key takeaway is that the compound has yet to return to its full operational capacity from prior to the airstrikes.”
QOM MISSILE BASE
Some 40 km north of the city of Qom, this base suffered moderate above-ground damage, according to Alma.
A comparison of images taken between July 16, 2025, and Feb. 1 shows a new roof over a damaged building. The roof repairs appear to have begun on Nov. 17 and were most likely complete 10 days later, Goodhind said.
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Epstein Tried to Build Web of Powerful Ties Across Middle East, Documents Show
Late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem are seen in this undated handout image from the Epstein estate released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in Washington, DC, US, on Dec. 18, 2025. Photo: House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via REUTERS
The departure of the chief executive of Dubai port giant DP World is the biggest fallout in the Middle East from US Department of Justice documents which show that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein tried to build a powerful network of political figures and business leaders across the region.
DP World announced on Friday that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem had resigned as chief executive and chair. The decision to act was taken after Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in the Epstein files, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, and as his relationship with the late convicted sex offender faced increasing scrutiny.
In their correspondence, Bin Sulayem discussed sexual relationships with women with whom Epstein helped him connect. In an email dated Nov. 9, 2007, Bin Sulayem told Epstein he had met one such woman in New York, whom he does not name and with whom he said he did not have sex.
“Yes after several attempts for several months we managed to meet in NY,” he wrote, adding that there was a misunderstanding because “she wanted some BUSINESS! while i only wanted some PUSSYNESS!”
Dubai’s ruler on Friday also issued a decree appointing a new chairman for Dubai’s Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation, one of several roles Bin Sulayem held.
Reuters was able to independently review only some of the Epstein files relating to Bin Sulayem and was unable to ascertain what specifically led to his departure from DP World although the sources said, without providing further details, that it was related to the files.
Bin Sulayem did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on his departure. DP World declined to comment.
COOKING TOGETHER
In one email exchange, Epstein described Bin Sulayem as funny, trustworthy, and a foodie. Epstein went on to say that Bin Sulayem, a Muslim, does not drink and prays five times a day.
An undated photograph that appears in an email and is publicly available shows Epstein cooking with Bin Sulayem and the two of them looking relaxed together. The full name of the person it was sent to by Epstein is not provided.
Bin Sulayem has not publicly commented on Epstein‘s description or the emails about his relationship with him.
Being named in the file is not evidence of criminal activity. But after members of the US Congress said Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), he faced renewed questions from some of DP World’s financial backers over his past interactions.
Bin Sulayem did not respond publicly to those concerns.
The UK development finance agency, British International Investment, and Canada’s second-largest pension fund said last week they would suspend all new investment with DP World over Bin Sulayem’s alleged ties to Epstein.
“We are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem,” said a spokesperson for BII, without saying which allegations he was referring to. “In light of the allegations, we will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.”
Canadian pension fund La Caisse said it was “pausing additional capital deployment alongside the company” until DP World clarified the situation and took “the necessary actions.”
In a statement after Friday’s leadership changes at DP World, BII welcomed DP World’s decision and said it looked forward to continuing “our partnership to advance the development of key African trading ports,” La Caisse said “the company took the appropriate measures” and that it would “move quickly to work with DP World’s new leadership to continue our partnership on port projects around the world.”
Bin Sulayem did not immediately respond when asked by Reuters to comment on the actions taken by BII and La Caisse. DP World declined comment.
NETWORK OF CONTACTS
The large cache of documents released by the DOJ, including text messages and emails, also shows the Middle East was no exception to Epstein‘s efforts to use his wealth to build relationships with prominent people in politics, finance, academia, and business around the world.
Reuters was unable to ascertain how successful Epstein was in seeking to influence his contacts in the Middle East, and whether his advice was heeded.
The DOJ documents reviewed by Reuters show Epstein tried to advise Qatari business leaders and political figures during the 2017-21 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt over accusations that Doha failed to curb ties with Iran and supported terrorism, which Qatar denied.
In exchanges with a Qatari businessman and ruling family member Sheikh Jabor Yousuf Jassim Al Thani, Epstein urged Qatar to “stop kicking and arguing … let the heat come down a bit.” He said “the current Qatar team is very weak” and “FM is not experienced and it shows.”
Qatar’s foreign minister at the time was Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who now serves as both foreign minister and prime minister. Sheikh Mohammed has not commented publicly on Epstein‘s portrayal of him. Asked about the exchange, Qatar’s International Media Office, which handles media requests for the prime minister, declined to comment.
There was no response to a Reuters request for comment emailed to three companies in Qatar that Sheikh Jabor is listed as chairman of, or to a text message sent to an individual who, according to the files released by the DOJ, works in Sheikh Jabor’s office.
Epstein urged Doha to forge links with Israel to stay in the good graces of Donald Trump, who was then in his first term as US president. He suggested the Gulf state either move towards recognizing Israel or pledge $1 billion to a fund for terrorism victims. Ultimately, Qatar stuck to its independent course. In 2021, the blockading countries restored ties with Doha, and ties between the Trump administration and Qatar are now strong.
DISCUSSION OF SAUDI ARAMCO IPO
Epstein discussed Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering in dozens of email exchanges. In one exchange dated Sept. 10, 2016, with a person named as Aziza Alahmadi, and with former Norwegian diplomat Terje Roed-Larson copied in, Epstein warned that Aramco going public could expose Saudi Arabia to lawsuits and asset seizures. Saudi Aramco declined to comment on these emails.
Alahmadi could not be reached for comment, and Reuters was unable to establish her role, if any, in Epstein‘s activities.
In an email dated Oct. 16, 2017, and also sent to Alahmadi, Epstein suggested selling China an option to buy a $100-billion stake in Aramco rather than pursuing a traditional IPO, saying it would provide liquidity while limiting exposure to public markets.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment to Reuters on the emails. Roed-Larsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email via his lawyer.
Epstein’s reach also extended to Egypt, the documents released by the DOJ show. Some emails show a request from a family member of Hosni Mubarak – the wife of his son Gamal Mubarak – that was passed on to Epstein asking for help in 2011, following the former president’s ouster and subsequent legal troubles. They did not say what kind of assistance was sought and Reuters was unable to establish whether Epstein had tried to intercede on the family’s behalf.
Reuters emailed a request for comment to one lawyer and sent a text message to another, both of whom represented Gamal Mubarak. There was no immediate response.