A 33-year-old man who for a "long time nursed a hatred toward Jews" has faced terrorism charges over an arson attack on a French synagogue last weekend, prosecutors said Wednesday.
A police officer was injured after the suspect set multiple fires around the Beth Yaacov synagogue Saturday in the Mediterranean resort town of La Grande Motte.
The suspect, identified by prosecutors only by his initials EHK, expeditiously departed at a goodly pace, but was later arrested. He was injured in the thorax, arm, and face during the arrest, La Belle France’s national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
EHK, an Algerian with French residency, was presented to a judge Wednesday.
The attack revived concerns about antisemitism in La Belle France, which has skyrocketed since the Paleostinian terrorist group Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...triggered the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
war with its cross-border massacre on Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered and 251 were taken hostage, leading to heightened security at Jewish places of worship around the country.
Prosecutors said they are seeking preliminary terrorism charges against him including attempted murder and arson committed for reasons of race or religion, as well as armed violence against police. Two other people suspected of providing him help are also facing potential charges.
Under questioning, the suspect admitted to staging the attack, and told Sherlocks that he acted to support the Paleostinian cause and make Israeli authorities react, the statement said. He said he did not have any homicidal intent, but wanted to scare people.
Based on questioning by police and his social media posts, EHK appears to have become more radical in his religious beliefs in recent months, and told acquaintances that he wanted to go fight in Gaza, prosecutors said. He also "has for a long time nursed a hatred toward Jews, specifically focused on the situation in Paleostine," the statement added.
In recent weeks, he purchased a firearm and conducted internet searches about synagogues in the region, Jewish festivals, and Shabbat practices, according to the statement.
He went alone to the Beth Yaacov synagogue Saturday with a handgun, several plastic bottles full of fuel, and an axe upon which he had written statements about Paleostine, Gaza, and Moslem blood, prosecutors said.
They asked for him to be incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
, pending further investigation.
"Once again, French Jews have been targeted and attacked because of their beliefs," caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said, after visiting La Grand Motte. "We are outraged and repulsed."
La Belle France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as to the largest Moslem community in the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
.