France vows to punish synagogue bombers 

ReutersFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Monday to punish those behind attacks on Jewish places of worship that have fuelled fears of a rise in anti-Semitic incidents linked to Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

A synagogue in Saint Denis near Paris and a house in the eastern city of Strasbourg used as a place of worship were attacked with fire bombs overnight. The incidents followed a petrol bomb attack against a synagogue in Toulouse last week.

"(The president) condemned in the strongest terms the unacceptable acts of violence committed under the pretext of the conflict ... and gave assurances that they would not remain unpunished," said a statement from Sarkozy's office, reporting his message to religious leaders at a reception in his Elysee palace.

France has western Europe's biggest Muslim population and officials have been acutely sensitive to the danger of trouble spilling over from protests against Israel's offensive in Gaza, as it did at the start of the Palestinian uprising of 2000.

No one was injured in either of Sunday's attacks, although the window of a kosher restaurant next to the synagogue in Saint Denis was broken.

"There wasn't much damage but there's a whole symbolic dimension to this," said Pierre Levy, a regional official for the Jewish organisation CRIF, speaking of the attack in the Strasbourg suburb of Bischheim.

On Monday, up to 200 teenagers demonstrated in the centre of Strasbourg chanting "Israel, murderer". The protest was mostly peaceful but a minority of youths invaded a McDonald's restaurant, throwing chairs at customers and breaking windows.

No one was injured in the incidents. Seven youths were arrested.

Cowardly

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who has pledged to crack down hard on any violence linked to protests against the fighting in Gaza, called Sunday's attacks "cowardly and unacceptable" and vowed to punish the perpetrators.

More than 100,000 people marched in France on Saturday to protest against Israel's assault in Gaza, with almost 4,000 police deployed to prevent a repeat of violence that marked a similar demonstration in Paris last week. There have also been protests in other European capitals.

In recent years, flare-ups between Israel and the Palestinians have been followed by acts of violence against Jewish people or buildings in France.

Some analysts have attributed the problem to a build-up of resentment among children or grandchildren of immigrants from Arab countries who feel poorly integrated into French society.

Such frustrations, coupled with feelings of solidarity towards the Palestinians, have resulted in attacks on Jewish targets that have been strongly condemned by almost everyone in the French political establishment.

The UEJF, a Jewish students' association, said Sunday night's attack was the 30th anti-Semitic action in France since December 27, when Israel began its bombardment of Gaza.

Jewish leaders, politicians from the main parties and the head of the Paris Grand Mosque also appealed for calm.

"The Paris Grand Mosque calls on France's Muslim community to keep its calm in the face of the great emotion caused by the war situation in Gaza," the mosque's rector, Dalil Boubakeur, said in a statement.