French Synagogue Attacked

Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue north of Paris last night. Nothing particularly unusual about that, but the manner in which the incident was characterized by the French government is interesting:

Two Molotov cocktails were hurled at a synagogue north of Paris, the latest attack in what France’s interior minister said Monday is a new wave of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attacks over the violence in Gaza. …

Firebombs broke a window and charred the walls of a pizzeria on the ground floor at Chabad House Ohr Manahem, in the town of Saint-Denis, said Isroeil Belinow, the synagogue’s assistant rabbi. Belinow said police found 15 other unignited firebombs nearby.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France has faced a “very clear increase” in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks since Israel started an offensive against the militant group Hamas in Gaza on Dec. 27.

She declined to provide specific figures on the increase….

I’ll bet she did! Other instances of anti-Jewish violence have been reported, like this attack on another synagogue less than a week ago, an attack on a teenage girl in Paris, and many others. But violence against Muslims in France? If that’s been happening, it’s been strangely absent from the news. A Google News search for “violence against muslims in France” yields not a single instance.

This appears to be one more in an endless series of false equivalences.

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