Paris, 5 March 2021 

The Wiesenthal Centre commended the security personnel – for identifying and immobilizing – and the police for its rapid response and arrest of a man wielding a ceramic knife outside a Jewish school in Marseille.

Over the past year there have been several stabbings of Jewish and Gentile teachers in France, the most recent being the beheading of a teacher who had discussed the Mohammed caricatures and freedom of expression in class.

Most of the perpetrators have been radicalized Jihadists infested with Jew hatred.

While French police have shown immediate intervention, arrestees on arraignment have been too often treated by the courts with silk gloves. Obvious antisemitic targeting has been dismissed on grounds of narcotics, alcohol or mental impairment.

“The Wiesenthal Centre will be watching closely the judicial treatment of today’s perpetrator, who reportedly appeared deranged, but also determined to hurt. We share the relief of students, teachers and parents in the face of danger,” concluded Samuels.

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“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” (Simon Wiesenthal, 1908-2005)