4 dead in French school attack

Not Born Yesterday wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17426313

France shooting: Toulouse Jewish school attack kills four

A gunman has shot dead a teacher and three children at a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse.

He opened fire on the Ozar Hatorah school in the north-east of the city, also seriously injuring a teenage boy.

The attacker fled on a scooter, in similar style to the killer of three soldiers in two separate incidents in the same part of France last week.

Officials admit there are similarities between the incidents but say there is no hard evidence yet linking them.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who flew to Toulouse, described the attack as a "national tragedy". He has called for all schools in France to observe a minute's silence on Tuesday and vowed to hunt down the killer.

The grand rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim said he was "horrified" and "stunned" by what had happened. Israel called on the French authorities "to shed full light on this tragedy and bring the perpetrators to justice".

A special Jewish service in memory of the victims will be held at one of the synagogues in Toulouse at 17:00 (16:00 GMT). There will also be a silent march in Paris at 20:00.

Monday's attack happened at around 08:00, as children and their parents were arriving at the school, in the Jolimont area of the city.

Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter and began shooting at an area which serves as the drop-off point for the school's nursery- and primary-age children.

"This man alighted from his moped and, as he was outside the school, he shot at everybody who was near him, children or adults. Children were chased right into the school," local prosecutor Michel Valet told journalists.

The gunman is reported to have initially used a 9mm gun, but when it jammed, he switched to a .45 calibre weapon.

A teacher at the school, believed to be aged 30, and his two children, aged three and six, are reported to have been killed.

The third child killed was aged between eight and 10 years old and belonged to another teacher at the school, French media report.

A 17-year-old was seriously injured.

Police have launched a massive hunt in Toulouse to find the killer - wailing sirens and the sounds of helicopters overhead could be heard throughout the morning.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said extra security measures will be put in place at all schools and religious buildings.

Some 60 police officers, including anti-terrorist specialists, had already been drafted in to the Toulouse area earlier in the week to help investigate the attacks on the soldiers.

A paratrooper out of uniform was shot dead in a residential area of Toulouse just over a week ago, while two soldiers were killed and a third wounded as they used a cash machine in the town of Montauban, some 29 miles (46km) away, on Thursday.

All three - of North African and Caribbean origin - were shot by a man on a scooter. A .45 calibre weapon was also used in the Montauban shootings.

Mr Sarkozy echoed the comments of other French officials when he said he was "struck by the similarities" of the recent attacks, but he warned against jumping to conclusions.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon has asked for all schools and religious buildings across the country to be secured in the wake of Monday's shooting, the Associated Press reports.

The president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, called for the perpetrator to be brought to justice.

"We must now urgently address the need to ensure that appropriate security measures are put in place at all Jewish institutions in Europe to ensure that the safety of Jews on this continent is not placed in jeopardy," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "a loathsome murder of Jews, which included small children" and said an anti-Semitic motive could not be ruled out.

The Vatican also condemned the killings, as did French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who called on the authorities to do everything to prevent another such attack.

SAME GUN USED AS IN ATTACKS ON SOLDIERS IN MONTAUBAN.

Toulouse Attack Was Worst on Jews in France Since 1982

By Helene Fouquet - Mar 19, 2012 5:21 PM GMT
.



Following are the worst attacks on France’s Jewish community in recent decades. The Jewish population in France numbers about 550,000, or about 0.9 percent of the total, according to the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France, the country’s main Jewish Group. France has the biggest Jewish community in Europe.

-- Today: Four people were killed, including three children, and one seriously injured in a shooting outside a Jewish school in a residential neighborhood of the southwestern city of Toulouse. The murderer is on the run and no claim was made for the killing.

-- February 13, 2006: Ilan Halimi, 23 years old,, was found naked and dying with marks of torture on his body. Halimi, a salesman in a Paris telephone store, had been kidnapped on Jan. 21. Police found him in the southern Paris suburb of Sainte- Genevieve-Des-Bois more than three weeks later. Youssef Fofana, who led the group of assailants, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

-- November 15, 2003: a wing of the Merkaz Hatorah School in Gagny, near Paris, was destroyed in an arson attack. No one was killed or injured. Former President Jacques Chirac said “an attack on a Jew is an attack against France.”

-- August 9, 1982: “Chez Jo Goldenberg” restaurant and deli was bombed at lunchtime, killing six, including two American tourists from the Chicago area, and wounding 22 people. This attack was the deadliest aimed at Jews in France since World War II. No arrests were made nor was there ever a claim of responsibility.

-- October 3, 1980: The synagogue Union Liberale Israelite de France on rue Copernic in Paris was bombed by a group of unidentified terrorists on Sabbath day, killing four and injuring 46. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine- Special Operations (PFLP-SO) claimed responsibility.

-- In the past 20 years, several hundred Jewish tombstones have been desecrated in France at cemeteries in Carpentras in 1990, in Herrilsheim in 1992, in Brumath in 2004, in Bar-Le-Duc in 2010.

According to CRIF, there is no record of anti-Semitic murders in France between the end of World War II and 1980.

The French Interior Ministry said there were 389 anti- Semitic threats and acts in France in 2011, fewer than the 466 in 2010. The number of violence acts remained unchanged with 129 last year versus 131 in 2010, the ministry told Bloomberg News.

Picked up on Twitter just now:

Didier VALETTE ‏ @Didier_VALETTE


Selon un media Toulousain, le tueur "aurait été identifié"

Mar 20, 6:14 AM EDT


Sarkozy: Killing could have happened anywhere








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TOULOUSE, France (AP) -- France's president is asking the nation's children to honor those killed in a shooting in a Jewish school and warning that it could have happened anywhere.

Schools across France held a moment of silence Tuesday to honor the three children and a rabbi killed in Monday's attack in the southern city of Toulouse.

Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting a junior high school in Paris, said the children killed "are exactly like you." He said the attack "could have happened here."

The killer, also suspected in the deaths of three paratroopers last week, is still at large.

Sarkozy said authorities "will do everything to stop him."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TOULOUSE, France (AP) - A gunman who killed four people at a French Jewish school may have filmed the attack, the interior minister said Tuesday, as hundreds of police combed southern France for the killer, suspected in three other deaths.

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the attacker was "wearing around his neck an apparatus" that could be used to film and post video online. He said that gave investigators new clues to the killer's "profile," though he admitted that they don't appear to close to an arrest.

Gueant described the suspect as "someone very cold, very determined, very much a master of his movements, and by consequence, very cruel."

Asked whether the gunman recorded the scene, Gueant responded, "We can imagine that." But he added that authorities have not yet found any images of the killings online.

Gueant was speaking in the city of Toulouse, where an unidentified assailant opened fire at a Jewish school Monday, killing a rabbi and his two sons and the daughter of the school principal. Authorities say one of the same weapons was used in killings of three French paratroopers last week.

Schools around France are holding a moment of silence Tuesday to honor the victims of the shootings.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is meeting with members of France's Jewish and Muslim community. France has the largest population of Jews and Muslims in western Europe.

The paratroopers targeted last week, also in the Toulouse region, were of North African and French Caribbean descent. Concerns mounted about a suspected racist and anti-Semitic serial killer.

In all three killings, the assailant fled on a motorbike.

The shootings echoed across a nation that has been focused on an upcoming presidential race in which issues about religious minorities and race have gained prominence. Sarkozy - who has struck a nationalist line in his campaigning - raised the terrorism alert level in the region to its highest level, while also noting a possible racist motive.

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Read this report in Arabic.

Toulouse, France (CNN) -- Authorities are investigating the possibility that neo-Nazis are behind a shooting spree that left three children and a teacher dead at a Jewish school in France, Interior Minister Claude Geant said Tuesday.

That is one of several leads authorities are following after the Monday killings -- the third fatal attack on people from minority groups in the south of France in the space of eight days.

The gunman at the Jewish school in Toulouse wore a camera on his chest during the attack, Geant told Europa 1 in an interview Tuesday.

The minister said a witness had told authorities about the device. Geant did not know if the gunman filmed the attack.

The bodies of the four victims of the shooting in France will be flown to Israel for burial.



Toulouse put on high security alert

Terror investigation under way in France

Sarkozy visits Toulouse shooting site

Casualties in French school shooting "The government of Israel has decided to transfer the coffins to Israel as soon as possible, with the cooperation and assistance of Israel's representatives in France," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.

Authorities did not say when the bodies would be transferred.

Meanwhile, representatives from France's Jewish and Muslim communities will meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday, when a moment of silence is planned to remember the victims.

The country's southwest region remained on the highest possible security alert level, after a teacher and three children were gunned down at the Jewish school Ozar Hatorah in Toulouse.

The teacher was shot dead with his two children, and the daughter of the school's director was killed in front of him.

One of the guns used Monday was also used in killings of French soldiers of north African origin on March 11 and March 15, said Elisabeth Allannic, a spokeswoman for judicial authorities in Paris.

A court in Paris has opened an investigation into all three killings, under anti-terrorism powers.

The gunman pulled up in front of the Jewish school just before 8 a.m. on Monday and started shooting, authorities said. He got close enough to shoot his victims in the head, local journalist Gil Bousquet said.

The gunman wore a motorcycle helmet and fled on a motor scooter after the shootings, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said -- the same method used in the earlier soldiers' shootings.

France, which has one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe, had 389 reported acts of anti-Semitism in 2011, according to Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, known by the French acronym CRIF.

The group later issued a statement saying that, while it is too early to determine definitively the motive for the "horrible" crime, it appears it's a case of anti-Semitism. It called for increased security at places of worship and study as the investigation continues.

Security heightened in U.S. synagogues

Police in New York, Washington and San Francisco all said they plan to increase patrols of synagogues and Jewish institutions, with New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly citing fears someone might stage a "copy-cat" attack. But he and the city's mayor stressed there is no "specific" intelligence indicating an active threat there.

"Just because there's something that happens there, doesn't mean there are more threats here. But we take everything very seriously," said Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

CNN's Greg Botelho, Carol Cratty, Dheepthi Namasivayam and Mark J. Norman contributed to this report.

French police are engaged in a siege with a man they believe is responsible for the killings of seven people in the south west of the country.

The suspect, 24, is refusing to surrender to police following the pre-dawn raid in the Croix-Daurade district of the city of Toulouse.

Up to seven shots rang out at the start of the operation at around 3am, which has seen part of the city cordoned off.

There are reports the initial negotiations have failed and that police are now preparing to launch a second raid.

They are said to be confident that the gunman responsible for three attacks that killed three children, a rabbi and three soldiers is inside the building.

French interior minister Claude Gueant said the suspect had spoken to officers through the door and declared himself to be a "mujahideen" or Islamic warrior fighting to avenge Palestinian children killed in the conflict with Israel.

Mr Gueant said "the wanted individual shot at the door", injuring two officers. One was shot in the knee and the other in the shoulder.

:: READ MORE - The Gunman's Trail Of Deadly Shootings

Officers brought the suspect's mother to the scene and tried to get her to help in the negotiations but she refused.

The minister said: "The suspect's mother was brought to the scene. She was asked to make contact with her son, to reason with him but she did not want to, saying she had little influence on him."

He added: "This person has made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past... and says he belongs to al Qaeda and says he wanted to avenge Palestinian children and to attack the French army.

"He has links with people involved in jihadism and salafism."

It is reported that the suspect is of Algerian descent and was known to France's domestic intelligence service.

Neighbours leaving the cordoned off area said he is on the first storey of a small building in what is usually a quiet housing estate.

French media are also reporting that the suspect's brother and the brother's girlfriend have been arrested.

Sky News' Robert Nisbet, reporting from the scene, said: "We know that someone is inside the building. It could be one person, it could be more than one person.

"I understand this is a relatively poor suburb of Toulouse. Obviously, there is an intense pressure on French police to solve this crime."

Three young children and a teacher were killed by a gunman riding a scooter at the Ozar Hatorah school in the city on Monday morning.

The attack was soon linked to two separate shootings in nearby Montauban in which three French soldiers were killed and another seriously injured.

On March 11, a 30-year-old non-commissioned officer dressed in civilian clothes was shot at point blank range by a gunman using a 9mm weapon.

Four days later, two paratroopers were killed and another badly wounded when they were at a cash machine near to their barracks.

Witnesses said the motorcyclist walked up to the men, who were in uniform but unarmed, and opened fire at point blank range.

All of the soldiers killed were of North African descent and police have said the three shootings were all carried out by an assailant using the same gun and scooter.

The four victims of the school shooting will be buried at a Jerusalem cemetery later today after being flown to Israel.



http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16192930

The shooting at the School was dreadful, of one family, the husband and two of his children were shot dead, the wife was left with a baby in a sling,
imagine the grief she has to bear.

Sarkozy announced in a recent Election speech that France should halt immigration and this is what happens. It is very scary the way immigrants
are taking over Countries and militants think nothing of taking innocent lives.

Last week the New York Times ran a full-page ad headed, “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church.” but when Pamela Geller tried to test the NYT's neutrality by placing an ad, “It’s Time to Quit Islam,” her ad was rejected.

Last week the New York Times ran a full-page ad headed, “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church.” I decided to try an experiment, and submitted an ad soon afterward headed, “It’s Time to Quit Islam.” We used the same language as the anti-Catholic ad. The only difference was that ours was true and what we described about the mistreatment of women and non-Muslims under Islamic law was true. The anti-Catholic ad, by contrast, was written by fallacious feminazis. Nonetheless, in a craven capitulation to Shariah blasphemy laws, the Times rejected my ad.

Bob Christie, senior vice president of corporate communications for the New York Times, just called me to advise me that they would be accepting my ad, but considering the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, now would not be a good time, as they did not want to enflame an already hot situation. They will be reconsidering it for publication in “a few months.” 
So I said to Mr. Christie, “Isn’t this the very point of the ad? If you feared the Catholics were going to attack the New York Times building, would you have run that ad?”
 
Mr. Christie said, “I’m not here to discuss the anti-Catholic ad.”
 
I said, “But I am, it’s the exact same ad.” 
He said, “No, it’s not.” 
I said, “I can’t believe you’re bowing to this Islamic barbarity and thuggery. I can’t believe this is the narrative. You’re not accepting my ad. You’re rejecting my ad. You can’t even say it.”

Christie then sent me a follow-up letter, claiming that “we delay publication in light of recent events in Afghanistan, including the Quran burning and the alleged killings of Afghani [sic] civilians by a member of the U.S. military. It is our belief that fallout from running this ad now could put U.S. troops and/or civilians in the region in danger.”

It is most disingenuous for the New York Times to refuse to run our counter-jihad ad based on their concern for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Liars. Who has done more to jeopardize our troops and American citizens than the pro-jihadist New York Times? They are notorious for their treasonous reportage. The New York Times has done more to jeopardize the safety of our troops than any mainstream media outlet, with the possible exception of Newsweek. Was the Times concerned that they were putting our troops’ live in danger when they ran front page articles on Abu Ghraib every day for a month? Starting on May 1, 2004, the New York Times had a front page article on Abu Ghraib every day for 32 days.

It's a very long article. Read the rest on the link below.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/n-y-times-surrenders-to-savagery/

Toulouse shooting: suspect identified
March 21st, 2012 by CST

French police have identified Mohammed Merah, a French national with alleged connections to al-Qaeda, as the prime suspect for the murder of four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday. Merah is currently surrounded in his flat in Toulouse where he is armed and is refusing to surrender.

May I recommend a very funny stand-up comedian called Pat Condell. You may not have heard of him because he has never appeared on TV or in the mainstream media. He posts videos on YouTube about what can happen when religion is given too much importance. He is scathing about all religions but needless to say it's Muslim extremists who grab most of the attention. Here's a link to one of his clips and then anyone who's interested can check out the others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9dXGJ2rYdA

He posts the hate mail he receives on his website and it is truly horrendous what so-called religious people say they would like to do to him!

Thanks NBY.....I had seen it before but didn't recognise the name. Yes, Islam is a huge threat around the World and the Middle East is a boiling pot
affecting the rest of the World. The U.S. should never have invaded Libya, it was a Dictatorship but what is it now? a tribal war which makes a mockery
of all our young Soldiers who died in vain.!!!

Now dissent is all over the Middle East through Western Government interference and it is scary to think about how it will all end.

Panda wrote:
Thanks NBY.....I had seen it before but didn't recognise the name. Yes, Islam is a huge threat around the World and the Middle East is a boiling pot
affecting the rest of the World. The U.S. should never have invaded Libya, it was a Dictatorship but what is it now? a tribal war which makes a mockery
of all our young Soldiers who died in vain.!!!

Now dissent is all over the Middle East through Western Government interference and it is scary to think about how it will all end.

Islam is a huge threat, Panda. Muslims get away with things that the rest of us wouldn't. Can you imagine a Christian church congregation stopping the traffic in NY every Friday for a couple of hours?

And when Israel launches an attack on Gaza, it's all over the news. When missiles are being fired daily from Southern Lebanon and from Gaza into Israel, we don't hear about it. It's them nasty Jews attacking the innocent people of Gaza. Well, the first line of that poem may yet come back to haunt us all: "First they came for the Jews."

Not Born Yesterday wrote:May I recommend a very funny stand-up comedian called Pat Condell. You may not have heard of him because he has never appeared on TV or in the mainstream media. He posts videos on YouTube about what can happen when religion is given too much importance. He is scathing about all religions but needless to say it's Muslim extremists who grab most of the attention. Here's a link to one of his clips and then anyone who's interested can check out the others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9dXGJ2rYdA

He posts the hate mail he receives on his website and it is truly horrendous what so-called religious people say they would like to do to him!

Thanks NBY. Pat Condell is absolutely right. When Islam pushed its way through Europe, they reached the gates of Vienna and was repelled. In my opinion, we are now at "The Gates of Vienna."

Pat Condell's latest.

AnnaEsse wrote:

Panda wrote:
Thanks NBY.....I had seen it before but didn't recognise the name. Yes, Islam is a huge threat around the World and the Middle East is a boiling pot
affecting the rest of the World. The U.S. should never have invaded Libya, it was a Dictatorship but what is it now? a tribal war which makes a mockery
of all our young Soldiers who died in vain.!!!

Now dissent is all over the Middle East through Western Government interference and it is scary to think about how it will all end.

Islam is a huge threat, Panda. Muslims get away with things that the rest of us wouldn't. Can you imagine a Christian church congregation stopping the traffic in NY every Friday for a couple of hours?

And when Israel launches an attack on Gaza, it's all over the news. When missiles are being fired daily from Southern Lebanon and from Gaza into Israel, we don't hear about it. It's them nasty Jews attacking the innocent people of Gaza. Well, the first line of that poem may yet come back to haunt us all: "First they came for the Jews."

Absolutely agree Anna!

pennylane wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote:

Panda wrote:
Thanks NBY.....I had seen it before but didn't recognise the name. Yes, Islam is a huge threat around the World and the Middle East is a boiling pot
affecting the rest of the World. The U.S. should never have invaded Libya, it was a Dictatorship but what is it now? a tribal war which makes a mockery
of all our young Soldiers who died in vain.!!!

Now dissent is all over the Middle East through Western Government interference and it is scary to think about how it will all end.

Islam is a huge threat, Panda. Muslims get away with things that the rest of us wouldn't. Can you imagine a Christian church congregation stopping the traffic in NY every Friday for a couple of hours?

And when Israel launches an attack on Gaza, it's all over the news. When missiles are being fired daily from Southern Lebanon and from Gaza into Israel, we don't hear about it. It's them nasty Jews attacking the innocent people of Gaza. Well, the first line of that poem may yet come back to haunt us all: "First they came for the Jews."

Absolutely agree Anna!

Thanks pennylane. In my opinion, appeasement just encourages more violence and threats of violence. How much longer can we go on not taking a critical look at what is happening because of fear of violent response?

AnnaEsse wrote:

pennylane wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote:

Panda wrote:
Thanks NBY.....I had seen it before but didn't recognise the name. Yes, Islam is a huge threat around the World and the Middle East is a boiling pot
affecting the rest of the World. The U.S. should never have invaded Libya, it was a Dictatorship but what is it now? a tribal war which makes a mockery
of all our young Soldiers who died in vain.!!!

Now dissent is all over the Middle East through Western Government interference and it is scary to think about how it will all end.

Islam is a huge threat, Panda. Muslims get away with things that the rest of us wouldn't. Can you imagine a Christian church congregation stopping the traffic in NY every Friday for a couple of hours?

And when Israel launches an attack on Gaza, it's all over the news. When missiles are being fired daily from Southern Lebanon and from Gaza into Israel, we don't hear about it. It's them nasty Jews attacking the innocent people of Gaza. Well, the first line of that poem may yet come back to haunt us all: "First they came for the Jews."

Absolutely agree Anna!

Thanks pennylane. In my opinion, appeasement just encourages more violence and threats of violence. How much longer can we go on not taking a critical look at what is happening because of fear of violent response?

My views on this subject are identical to your own, Anna. Too many years have been spent tip toeing around major atrocities against us for fear of reprisals, and still civilian aircraft, embassies, transports, tourists, et al are blown to smithereens, and hostages taken.

There is no easy answer, but appeasement is the most feeble, impotent one of all against any radical enemy with warped and hateful beliefs.

Tragedy: Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his sons Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 4, were gunned down on Monday. Miriam Monsonego, daughter of the school's headteacher, was also murdered

THE POLICE WERE STILL BESIEGING A FLAT IN TOULOUSE, I HEARD ON 5 O'CLOCK NEWS

Badboy wrote:THE POLICE WERE STILL BESIEGING A FLAT IN TOULOUSE, I HEARD ON 5 O'CLOCK NEWS

Still going on at 7pm according to Sky News

Yep and still going on at 9.30pm

STILL GOING ON,ENTERS SECOND DAY?