1. Jewish Policy Center (http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org)
Three Children, One Rabbi Killed Outside Jewish School in France, 19 March 2012
by Samara Greenberg
A gunman on a motorbike opened fire outside of a Jewish school in Toulouse, France on Monday morning, killing a rabbi who taught at the school and his two sons, ages three and six. The young daughter of the school principal was also killed, a 17-year-old was seriously injured and is now "hovering between life and death," and the school custodian is suspected of being injured. The assailant remains at large.
France is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. According to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, 389 anti-Semitic acts were reported last year. The Jewish population in Toulouse stands at approximately 20,000 people, with some 600 Jewish children attending the school that was attacked on Monday, Ozar Hatorah.
A student is escorted from the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school after the shooting.
Confusing the situation, the shooting at the Jewish school is connected to two recent incidents in the same area of France in which three French soldiers of North African origin were killed. On Thursday in the town of Montaubana, a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on three soldiers standing by an ATM machine. Two of the soldiers were killed and the third seriously wounded. The weekend prior, an off-duty soldier not in uniform was shot and killed by an assailant on a motorbike in the same city as the Jewish school, Toulouse. According to French police, the same gun was used in all three incidents.
French authorities are treating the shootings as potential acts of terrorism, with Paris prosecutor Francois Molins opening investigations "for acts of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise." At this time, it is unknown if the shooting at the Jewish school is also related to recent foiled and realized attacks against Israeli embassies abroad. Even so, former Israeli Counterterrorism Bureau chief Nitzan Nuriel drew a line between the attack in France and the others, stating that Tehran and its proxy terror groups are trying to deter Israel from attacking its nuclear facilities through carrying out deadly acts overseas.
2. Jewish News (http://www.yourjewishnews.com)
Jewish cemetery in Poland vandalized, 20 March 2012
VANDALS have desecrated a Jewish cemetery in Poland, spraying swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on tombstones and memorial plaques.
The vandals also wrote "This is Poland, not Israel" on one sign at the Jewish cemetery in Wysokie Mazowieckie, a town in eastern Poland, according to the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland.
Police are investigating the attack, which occurred yesterday in a town that has tried to preserve the memory of the Jews who once lived there.
The cemetery, which was restored six years ago, is not fully fenced in and it was the first time vandals attacked it, said Michael Traison, an American lawyer who has raised funds to restore the cemetery.
"The people of Wysokie Mazowieckie have supported their Jewish heritage," Mr Traison said."Those of us who are the guardians of the cemetery know that the vandalism is an isolated example which is the antithesis of what Poles and Poland are today."
Poland was home to Europe's largest Jewish community in Europe before it was nearly wiped out by Nazi Germany in the Holocaust. Today the Jewish community in Poland is tiny.
While anti-Semitic slogans crop up sometimes in graffiti or in the chants of soccer fans, physical violence against Jews is extremely rare.
3. Malaysiakini(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Hadi: PAS prepared to work with Jews, not Zionists, 17 March 2012
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the party allowed cooperation with the Jews, especially in commerce, but rejected Zionism.
He said cooperation with the Jews in commerce was allowed as trading with non-Muslims had been practiced all this while.
"Nevertheless, PAS rejects Zionism because it is a fanatical ideology of the Jew race," he said in a question-and-answer session during a dinner with PAS leaders,organised by its Dewan Muslimat in Shah Alam last night.
Also present was PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is also the menteri besar of Kelantan.
In another development, Abdul Hadi said PAS would change the mindset of the Malays to strengthen themselves through Islamic teachings.
Abdul Hadi also said the party was prepared to field artistes as candidates in the coming general election at the request of any of its branches or areas.
- Bernama
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