(JTA) — A rabbi and his 18-year-old son were injured in an attack in Paris by a knife-wielding man who reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" — "God is great."
Police arrested the man immediately after the attack Tuesday, the French news agency AFP reported.
The rabbi was identified by the French news sites Dreuz.info and JSS News as "Rabbi Baroukh," 50, of a synagogue on Saunier Street in Paris.
Both he and his son were attacked outside the synagogue and were rushed to hospital as police subdued the attacker, according to Dreuz.
The rabbi "sustained a deep cut to the neck. His injury was not life-threatening but required immediate surgery. The son sustained several superficial cuts,” the SPCJ security unit of French Jewish communities wrote in a statement.
The name of the synagogue is Beth-El, according to SPCJ.
“The two men tried to escape their attacker and return to the synagogue. He chased them back inside until passer-by intervened and police came,” Sammy Ghozlan, president of the National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, nonprofit watchdog organization told JTA.
The attacker was not named but Dreuz reported he was 28 years old and has Iranian origins, and was wearing a uniform from the Vénissieux psychiatric hospital. JSSNews reported that he shouted "Allahu Akbar" — "God is great" — during the attack.
