Attacker of French troops guarding Paris-area synagogue arrested

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(JTA) — French troops guarding a French synagogue and Jewish school arrested a man who hurled objects at them.

The incident occurred Thursday outside the Chne-Or educational complex and synagogue of the Paris suburb of Auvervilliers, the news website JSSnews.com reported Sunday.

The man, who was not named, was inebriated and the soldiers subdued him within minutes of his displaying violence, the report said. No one was hurt in the incident, after which the troops filed a complaint against the alleged attacker.

The troops were posted outside the school after the slaying of four Jews in January by a Muslim Islamist at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket on the eastern edge of the French capital.

Following the attack, the French government assigned a total of 10,412 soldiers and policemen to guard hundreds of Jewish schools, synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the framework of Operation Sentinel. Hundreds of additional uniformed and civilian-clothes personnel patrol areas where many Jews live.

Several attacks have been documented against armed personnel participating in Operation Sentinel. Last year, three men threatened officers guarding a synagogue with what appeared to be fake assault rifles before fleeing.

In 2014, France saw a total of 851 anti-Semitic incidents — the most in the last five years and the second-highest figure recorded since the SPCJ security unit of the French Jewish community began monitoring attacks in the 1980s.

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