A powerful bomb explosion early this morning damaged a building housing commercial firms linked with Israel and a Jewish-owned bank. A passerby, a woman walking her dog, was seriously injured.
Police believe the attack was carried out by the extreme leftwing Direct Action organization which assumed responsibility for four explosions and several machinegun attacks against Jewish or Israeli installations in France during recent days.
This morning’s blast, 48 hours after six people were killed and 22 wounded in a terrorist attack in the heart of Paris’ traditional Jewish quarter, further increased the atmosphere of shock and dismay. French officials said the government had taken all necessary measures to try and prevent further violence but warned that in a democratic country such as France, these measures might not always be sufficient.
POLICE FIND ANTI-ISRAEL INSCRIPTION
The bomb exploded shortly after I am outside an elegant office building only a few hundred yards from the city’s main avenue, the Champs Elysee.
Police investigators said they found inscriptions on an adjacent building calling for “the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli fascists from Lebanon” and warning that “if the Palestinians are forced to leave Beirut, we shall kill the Zionists financiers and propagandists working for its (Israel’s) cause.” The inscriptions were signed “A.D.”, the initials of the Direct Action (Action Directe) organization.
Eight of its members were yesterday detained for questioning but were later released after police found nothing linking them to Monday’s attack.
France, and especially the Jewish community, still reels from Monday’s terrorist attack and messages of sympathy and solidarity continue to arrive at local Jewish institutions and the Israel Embassy.
SPECIAL SERVICE HELD FOR THE SIX VICTIMS
A special religious service for the six victims all of them non-Jews — was held tonight at Paris’ main synagogue. Prime Minister Pierre Mauray, the archbishop of Paris Jean-Marie Lustiger and half a dozen government and opposition leaders are to attend the service which will be followed by a six hour vigil in front of the Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr.
Last evening, several hundred demonstrators, massed in front of the Israel Embassy at the call of the French section of the Israel’s Herut Party. The demonstrators, who waved Israeli flags, shouted slogans charging President Francois Mitterrand with responsibility in Monday’s attack.
The demonstrators also accused the French media of having “poisoned the climate” and creating an anti-Semitic atmosphere “which enabled the terrorists to strike.” The press and television are charged with having presented partial and strongly distorted reports from Lebanon, according to the demonstrators.
Young Jews last night also personally assaulted reporters and television crews covering the demonstration. The press photographers union decided not to submit any pictures for publication to protest being manhandled by the demonstrators.
BOMB BLAST DAMAGES IRAQI EMBASSY
This evening, the Iraqi Embassy in Paris was seriously damaged by a powerful explosion which, according to initial reports, wounded two people and set afire several adjacent buildings. Police said a powerful bomb was hidden in a parked car outside the building in one of the city’s luxurious residential areas. The bomb went off at 6 pm just as thousands started gathering inside and in front of the city’s main synagogue for a special service in memory of Monday’s victims.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
