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Paris shul attacked with rocks

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A synagogue in Paris came under siege last night during an anti-Israel protest.

Hundreds of congregants were attending a gathering for peace inside Synagogue de la Roquette when the building was attacked by demonstrators.

The attackers, numbering in the hundreds, had been on a march to Bastille Square, but broke off from the main protest to assault the shul.

Riot police were sent to the synagogue where demonstrators were heard shouting “death to Jews” and throwing rocks.

One person in the synagogue told Israel’s Channel 2 news that it was “like an intifada”.

According to reports, two members of the Jewish community and six officers were injured in the attack.

Worshipers left the shul safely after 9pm with the help of the police.

A second synagogue was also attacked and six protesters were arrested, police said.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls condemned the attack on the synagogues “in the strongest possible terms”.

He said: “Such acts targeting places of worship are unacceptable.”

Joel Mergei, president of the Israelite Central Consistory of France, told the AFP: “I am profoundly shocked and revolted.

“This aggression towards the Jewish community has taken an absolutely unacceptable turn.”

The European Union of Jewish Students said they were “horrified by the violent antisemitic attacks” in the wake of the “current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza”.

The Jewish Leadership Council condemned the attack and said it appeared to be an “alarming antisemitic outcome”.

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