PARIS—French police detained five teenage boys for questioning in relation to the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the eastern part of the country, an incident that has raised anxiety among French Jews about their security.
Philippe Vannier, a French state prosecutor in Saverne in the Alsace region, told a news conference on Monday that one teen had turned himself in, which then led the police to four others who are suspected of knocking over and vandalizing about 250 out of the 400 tombstones at the cemetery.
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February 17, 2015 2:10 AM
Not surprised the most cowardly nation in history is also the one who most bullies is most vulnerable. I guess surrendering to the Nazis in around 15 minutes makes most French feel weak and in need of scapegoating.
February 17, 2015 2:09 AM
Walter head back under the rock you crawled out from under. Doubtful these moronic youth were thinking of Palestinians and Isreal.
February 17, 2015 2:09 AM
“I won’t allow words spoken in Israel that allow people to think that Jews don’t have their place in Europe and, in particular, in France,”Mr. Hollande "won't allow words words spoken in Israel to allow people to think ..."What's that supposed to mean?Mr. Hollande, whatever French Jews are thinking it's not because of "words spoken in Israel". You need to look closer to home.
February 17, 2015 2:09 AM
Ever since the Zionist Operation Protective Edge, times has been divided into two segments, Before Zionist Operation Protective Edge, or BZOPE, and AZOPE, After Zionist Operation Protective edge. Or, the unmasking of Zionism.This is the time of AZOPE. Zion has been unmasked. People are angry.
February 17, 2015 2:08 AM
"Prime Minister Manuel Valls called for France to unite against Islamo-fascism”Barack Hussein Obama condemns "violent extremism" against "random folks"
February 17, 2015 2:08 AM
There is one, only, living Walter Hauschildt. He lives in a small community in Washington state. Assuming this Hauschildt is the one who posts the naive and sometimes humorous material that he does on the WJS boards, perhaps his full address, phone, etc., should be published so that people can meet and properly greet him.
February 17, 2015 2:07 AM
Europe has created a huge problem by allowing uncontrolled Islamic immigration and then not assimilating immigrants into society. Due to low birth rates among native Europeans combined with very high rates among Muslims, Muslims will be a majority in Europe within 50 years. As the percentage of Muslims increases, there will be more discrimination, more violence, and more slaughter of those who dare to oppose Islam. Google "ALL EUROPEAN LIFE DIED IN AUSCHWITZ By Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez" for a good comparison of the contributions to the betterment of humanity by Muslims versus Jews. ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION, IT IS A METHOD OF GOVERNANCE, AND IT IS A VERY CRUEL AND INHUMANE METHOD THAT IS INTOLERANT OF ANY OTHER METHOD OF GOVERNANCE. AS SUCH, ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF RELIGION, CANNOT CO-EXIST. The sooner our political leaders recognize this and take action to diminish this threat to our democratic way of life, the better off the world will be.
February 17, 2015 2:06 AM
Ah, Francois, what a man of the people, and I quote:“I won’t allow words spoken in Israel that allow people to think..." A true man of freedom. Talks like Baraq.
February 17, 2015 2:06 AM
Hitler would laugh at what is going on in France today. Racism is alive and well in France and most of Europe today. The French people allowed racism to grow and nurtured it with political polorization. Where will they go from here?? What will the French people allow to occur? Will people stand up and say enough is enough?
February 17, 2015 2:06 AM
“They claim they realized the tombs were Jewish after they had already started [their vandalism] and they thought the cemetery was abandoned,”.What? They didn't notice the grave markers?
February 17, 2015 2:05 AM
This is from someone else, and I lost the source, but the thought is insightful and helps to explain why Muslims hate Jews and Americans and just about anyone else that disagrees with them.Hate cultivated for such cultural and political ends resolves the dissonance between past glory and current ignominy. By turning the question "What did we do wrong?" into "Who did this to us?", it restores some measure of self-respect and provides a course of action. In psychiatry, the clinical terms for this process are splitting and projection; it allows people to define themselves as victims.
February 17, 2015 2:05 AM
As our dear leader owe-bozo says they are just random acts of workplace violence caused by climate change videos, not the religion of peace
February 17, 2015 2:04 AM
what europe needs to understand is that it can no longer ignore (and thereby tacitly sanctify) the genocide being conducted against the palestinian people. until this issue is addressed and a two state solution imposed, this barbarian tit for tat will continue
February 17, 2015 2:03 AM
Only if indeed this proves to be a thoughtless "innocent teenage prank", the punishment should fit the crime. They and perhaps their parents and extended families should bear responsibility for repairing all damage to serve as an example to all. Spend whatever time required to replace and repair all of the headstones and learn a bit about each of the persons whose memory was desecrated. Perhaps they will grow up passing such realization of their disrespect for people to all about them.If it proves to be a definite anti-Semitic "hate crime", then stricter criminal prosecution fitting to young people their age who may learn from the experience. Such punishment should include repairing and a period of bearing responsibility for the maintenance of the entire cemetery.
February 17, 2015 2:03 AM
>>>In 2013, the latest year for which data have been compiled, there were 423 reported anti-Semitic incidents in France, compared with 82 in 1999<<<There is a huge double standard at play here that is a lightning rod for anti-Semitism in the West. Our liberal friends are only too eager to call Israel a war criminal and push for it to be brought before the ICC, ignoring the dozen of countries that truly are engaged in torture, arbitrary imprisonment and lack any democratic institutions. And they also want a boycott of Israeli products and academics - funny that it is only Israel that gets singled out for this treatment.And, ah the Democrats. The Prime Minister of Israel is invited to address Congress on an issue vital to it, Iran's nuclear capability. And there are Democrats who are going to boycott it. Would they do the same to any other democratically elected leader?
February 17, 2015 2:03 AM
In 1963-64 I had occasion to work with our"allies"in Nato exercises in Germany. I am not/was not a regular however the French troops were very sloppy/ill disciplined. Good that DeGaul w/drew. The Brits,as usual,were well turned out troops. The new German Army gave me pause. Very sharp. Very eager. Problem was some of the senior commanders had been fighting us on the very same ground 20 years before.. I don't think that France/Germany has the will or ability to fight the Islamic enemy. Britain may have the grit but not the money. Then of course we have Mr MIA in the White House. God help the USA!
February 17, 2015 2:03 AM
"President François Hollande also sought to stem the tide. 'I won’t allow words spoken in Israel that allow people to think that Jews don’t have their place in Europe and, in particular, in France,' he said earlier Monday."Huh?? I guess this is Hollande's code way of saying Benjamin Netanyahu is not allowed to express fears that all Jews must be feeling in France and elsewhere right now in Europe. Why has it taken left-wing European leaders this long to confront anti-Semitism, especially from Islam?
February 17, 2015 2:02 AM
France reassures Jews, France reassures Muslims, France is a mess, by the way who is France?
February 17, 2015 2:02 AM
France does not have the best record when it comes to the Jews. Catholic persecution in the Middle Ages. Then all sorts of laws restricting Jewish businesses, and civic life. Expulsions. In the 19th century the Dreyfus Affair. Then the Vichy government. Now the horror of Islamic violence.
February 17, 2015 2:02 AM
There is danger of overreaction to the cemetery vandalism. Such vandalism is common in the U.S. and seldom has any ideologic content--just drunken teens, mostly, doing stupid. The old bromide, "Parents, do you know where your children are?" is applicable here, I suspect. Of course, if France is anything like the U.S., these kids mostly have only one--lightly connected--parent.However, there is plenty of anti-Semitism in Europe. None of it has any logic, only long-standing medieval European "tradition." Maybe its in their genes!If they want to be anti-something, they better transfer it to the Islamists among them.
February 17, 2015 2:02 AM
This looks like a teenage prank instead of a "hate crime".Grave desecration is appalling... but is it worth a piece in the international section of WSJ?Incidentally, does anyone knows that France has the largest Jewish community in Europe. France has more Jewish citizen than virtually the rest of continental Europe combined.Also, do you know why Germany, Austria, etc. do not have large Jewish communities?HINT: It is not because of France.
February 17, 2015 2:01 AM
The last events of France and Denmark confirm the Islamic fascism that is whipping Europe is a devilish movement that wants to destroy the cultural and religious roots of the countries and the principles of freedom that were spread across the Old Continent after the fall of the Nazi regime..
February 17, 2015 2:00 AM
Sometimes boys are just being boys. I can recall kids knocking down tombstones in my home town on several occasions.Boneheads.