Fire guts Jewish community center in Paris

[Erikl]

Fire guts Jewish community center in Paris

By Amiram Barkat

PARIS - Arsonists burned a Jewish community center in eastern Paris before dawn yesterday, leaving behind graffiti with anti-Semitic messages such as "Jews get out," police said.

No one was hurt as flames tore through the center located on the first floor of a six-story building. The center, a meeting place and cafeteria for the elderly and disadvantaged, was gutted, rescue officials said.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and other top officials visited the center, the latest target in a years-long wave of anti-Jewish attacks in France.

"I came here today to say that France cannot accept a trivialization of anti-Semitism," the prime minister said.

Raffarin noted that the maximum sentence for such crimes is 20 years behind bars. "Prosecutors will request the maximum sentences," he promised.

In a statement, President Jacques Chirac condemned the attack and pledged solidarity with the Jewish community. The government is "determined to find the perpetrators of this unacceptable act so that they can be tried and convicted with the greatest severity" that the law allows, Chirac said.

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 3:30 A.M. local time and had extinguished the flames by early morning. The center's wooden doors were gnawed by flames, while the walls inside were blackened. The apartments upstairs were not affected.

Authorities immediately suspected the fire was set deliberately. Inside the building, investigators found anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas scrawled in red marker. One message read, "Without the Jews, the world is happy."

Visiting the site, Rabbi Claude Zaffran said he was "deeply pained and distraught."

"We're very worried," he said. "I have the impression I'm seeing the same movie with the same script. Beyond the declarations and speeches, there must be strong actions to end the string of anti-Semitic acts.

"I am not afraid," the rabbi continued, "but as a rabbi with a beard and a hat, I am worried I will be targeted. There are many people and families who are saying that it is impossible to continue like this, that's it is no longer possible to send the children out on the Metro or a bus, and that there is no alternative but to go out on foot."

The umbrella organization of the Jewish community in France, CRIF, said in a statement that only hatred of Jews could have been a motive for the incident. Other organizations, such as the Jewish students organization, called on the media to begin a public campaign against anti-Semitism, while an anti-Semitism monitoring organization warned of increased acts against Jews over the approaching Jewish holidays.

Serge Benaim, a local Jewish community leader, also expressed frustration.

"It happens over and over again, every day now someone lashes out at Jews," he said. "We haven't resolved the problem."

France has suffered a long wave of anti-Semitic violence since 2000, coinciding with worsening tensions in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians.

Some of the violence has been blamed on young French Muslims, although the Muslim community itself is also a frequent target of racist attacks. France has the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe.

The government has already made efforts to tackle anti-Semitism. In December, it announced a wide-ranging campaign that includes encouraging French schools to lead class trips to Auschwitz and punishment for anti-Jewish remarks in the media.

Extra security at Jewish places of worship and schools and tough sanctions against anyone found guilty of anti-Semitic acts is also part of the policy. Sunday's fire was discovered by police assigned to patrol outside a nearby synagogue.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and Paris Police Chief Jean-Paul Proust also visited the charred center, on a winding street lined with shops.

Proust noted that the fire could have been deadly.

"I have mobilized the best of my police officers," Proust said. "We will find those responsible. Sooner or later, they will be caught."

The head of the Foreign Ministry's Diaspora department, Nimrod Barkan, said yesterday that the French government was responsible for the safety of the Jews there. Barkan added that while the French government was showing it was committed and determined to combat the phenomenon, the French judicial system was unaware of the extent of the problem and the courts tended to impose very light penalties on offenders.

The chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor, called on the French judicial system "to change its attitude toward the anti-Semitic hoodlums."

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