Strasbourg: Jewish man attacked by mentally ill Muslims

Strasbourg: Jewish man attacked by mentally ill Muslims


The Strasbourg prosecution will start a legal inquiry Sunday for 'aggravated attempted murder', following the attack on a man wearing a kippa Friday, in the heart of the Alsatian capital. The victim (42), was released from a hospital Saturday. His two attackers are still in custody.

As he was exiting a tram on the Homme-de-Fer Friday, around 12:30, the forty year old was stabbed in the neck and was then hit in the face with an iron bar. Only one of the men heard by the court was responsible for the attack, the other played a "purely passive" role, according to Thierry Massa, deputy-prosecutor for Strasbourg. He says that the antisemitic character of the attack has been proven.

During his interrogation, the main alleged perpetrator said he was the "object of a conspiracy of the Jews, all the misfortunes that happened to him in life, he says came from the Jews," said Thierry Massa. Aged 38, based on our information, the man broke from his family due to mental problems. He was supposed to get medical treatment for his problems. He accuses a Jewish doctor for putting him in the hospital. A Muslim, he does not go to the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg. His accomplice, of the same age, is also said to be suffering from a mental disorder.

The two men were arrested several minutes after the incident. One was stopped by a police bicycle while trying to flee on the Nuée-Bleue street, a road about 600-700 meters away from the place of the attack.

Since Friday, politicians and religious authorities all unanimously condemned this attack. In a letter to the president of CRIF (French Jewish org), Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux voice his 'support' and 'solidarity' with the Jews of France. Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg (PS), deplored the 'odious act which shows the persistence of a form of intolerance and antisemitism which should be fought with the utmost firmness."

Calling for a 'Republican start', Abdelaziz Choukri, deputy head of the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg, said the attack caused 'widespread indignation among the Muslim of Strasbourg, who condemn it with the utmost rigor". Saïd Aalla, president of the mosque, said that he hoped this 'gratuitous and barbaric act' will not 'stir up tensions and create misunderstanding between the Jewish and Muslims communities of Alsace, between whom there are genuine cordial relationships."

CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) called for a silent vigil Monday, 12:30, in front of the Strasbourg synagogue.

Source: 20 Minutes (French)