Jewish Schools, Synagogues Closed in French City of Nice Following Terrorist Murder Spree at Church
A French soldier stands in front of Notre Dame church, where a knife attack took place, in Nice, France, Oct. 29, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Eric Gaillard / Pool.
Jewish schools and synagogues in Nice remained closed on Friday as a precautionary measure following this week’s shocking Islamist terrorist attack at a Catholic church in the southern French city.
A knife-wielding attacker shouting “Allahu akbar” beheaded a woman and killed two other people in Thursday’s attack at the Notre Dame church, the largest in Nice.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 13 hours after the attack, Franck-Daniel Teboul — the chief rabbi of Nice — said that synagogues and schools would be closed on Friday and that kosher shops would be on “alert.”
“We’re all feeling threatened,” Rabbi Teboul said.
Thursday’s attack came two weeks after a Paris school teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded in broad daylight by an 18-year-old Muslim refugee from Chechnya. Paty had been the target of protests and death threats after leading a classroom discussion on freedom of speech in which he showed students controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed.
Since Paty’s killing, French officials — backed by many ordinary citizens — have reasserted the right to display the cartoons, and the cartoons have been widely displayed at marches in solidarity with the killed teacher.
That has prompted an outpouring of anger in parts of the Muslim world, with some governments accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of pursuing an “Islamophobic” agenda.