Young suspect detained for alleged assault on Rabbi of Orleans
French authorities have detained a young suspect for allegedly assaulting the Rabbi of Orleans in public, a prosecutor said Sunday. The attack has triggered widespread denunciation. A silent march is planned for Tuesday evening in Orleans.
A 16-year-old teenager, suspected of having assaulted the rabbi of Orleans on Saturday, is detained since Sunday.
The attack against the Rabbi of Orleans, Arie Engelberg, happened as he walked with his nine-year-old son from synagogue on Saturday afternoon in the city, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) south of Paris.
Engelberg told BFM television that his attacker asked if he was Jewish. "I said yes."
"He started saying 'all Jews are sons of...," he said, adding that he wanted to film him with his phone as he hurled insults.
"I decided to act and I pushed his telephone away," the rabbi said. His attacker then "started punching and I protected myself", he added.
Engelberg said the suspect bit him until several people stepped in to help, he told the channel.
"I'm OK, thank God, my son, I'm getting better and better. We've had an enormous amount of support."
Police were checking the identity of the person in custody since he did not have documents on him when he was detained, Orleans prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren said.
Another source with knowledge of the case said the suspect arrested on Saturday night was known under at least three identities, one Moroccan and two Palestinian.
Shaken
France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
Several EU nations have reported a spike in "anti-Muslim hatred" and "anti-Semitism" since the Gaza war started on October 7, 2023, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
On that date, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a cross-border attack in Israel, resulting in the death of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's subsequent military offensive on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run occupied Palestinian territory. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.
Andre Druon, a Jewish community leader in Orleans, said there had not been any incident in Orleans since October 7, 2023 "apart from some graffiti" before the "very violent" attack on the rabbi.
He said the rabbi was profoundly shaken when he recounted his ordeal to the community on Sunday.
Yann Dhieux, a locksmith, told AFP he had intervened with his arms wide and helped stop the assault, but that it was shocking to see the rabbi attacked in front of his young son.
Some 300 people gathered at the Bastille square in Paris to denounce the attack following an appeal by a Jewish students' association, and a silent march is planned for Tuesday evening in Orleans.
President Emmanuel Macron voiced solidarity with the rabbi's family and all French people of Jewish faith.
"Anti-Semitism is a poison," he wrote on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was "shocked" by the attack and called for "zero tolerance for anti-Semitism".
France witnessed some 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, the interior ministry says. They made up 62 percent of all acts of hatred on the basis of religion.
(AFP)
France: Muslim cleric arrested for plotting jihad massacre, was previously jailed for glorifying terrorism
A Muslim cleric? You’d think he would know all about how Islam is really a benign religion of peace, and that jihad terrorists are misunderstanding the religion. Yet he clearly doesn’t think all that, and French authorities are not about to ponder the implications of that fact.
France foils terror plot: Cleric arrested
Shafaq News, March 22, 2025:
The man, born in 1993, is under formal investigation for preparing a terrorist act and promoting terrorism online.He was taken into custody on Friday after appearing before a judge.A source familiar with the case told AFP that investigators had identified the suspect’s interest in drone technology, attempts to acquire explosive materials, and research into possible targets between late 2023 and late 2024. No confirmed operational link between these activities has been established.The suspect had previously been jailed in October 2024 for glorifying terrorism, the source noted, adding that he also lived in Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2015 and has a criminal record related to that period....
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